LoS Birth of a Hero: The Chosen
by Insane-Randomness
Summary: Third book of the trilogy, Birth of a Hero.  Find me at Insane-Randomness on DeviantART
1. Chapter 1

And now the final act of the trilogy: The Legend of Spyro: Rise of a Hero

**ACT II: THE CHOSEN**

**And we will lead the earth into a new era,**

**of purity and sunlight,**

**and free it of unwanted burden,**

**causing it to rise out of the clouds**

**and allow the creator to shine down upon us.**

**Us, the Chosen few.**

_**The Scriptures, Book of Trials 1:17**_

_You were afraid that you would disappear,_

_That you would be lost and forgotten._

_I held you tight against the dark and_

_Said that I would always be there for you_

_Then one day it happened. You were_

_Torn from my arms and vanished_

_From this world..._

It was late, the moon shown bright through the trees as Ezio dipped his claw into the ink again, looking out through the window and entrance to Ignitus's study. He thought for a moment as the ink drained back into the pot, then brought his claw back to the scrap of parchment.

_Maybe you don't remember_

_Maybe you don't want to, it might scare you_

_I doubt it..._

_Maybe your mad at me. You didn't seem like it when I last saw you, held you in my arms_

_I'd like to think you hadn't forgotten, that you knew and you were planning on it_

_My promise and all. But I meant _

_Every word._

_I hope your not afraid,_

_Wherever you are._

_You don't need to be..._

_I'm not..._

_I WILL find you._

_The night may grow dark around us, but I promised. I think promises to a dragon are different. But the magic of this place, and of you had already begun to change me. I'm not sure how, but I feel different._

_I can feel you wherever I can go. Frost looks at me with worry. Like I should do something rash._

_I'm not angry. I'm determined. To find you, and end this. It's time it stopped._

_I'm determined to find you and ask you._

_Say hello to our mutual friend..._

_Yours, forever and always,_

_Ezio Starfire_

"Hello?"

No answer.

"Anyone there? I'm sorry, I can't see anyth - "

Sudden light blinded Spyro. He thought the sun had exploded, it was so bright. Finally, it died down, and he gaped at what he saw. Arrayed before him was the universe. But not just our universe, all of them, every single one beyond the reach that any mortal could ever achieve.

"Wow." He said quietly. He looked down too see what he was walking on, and was startled to see he was standing on nothing. It felt as if he were upon hard solid ground, but there was nothing there. He lifted a foot, and placed it down, and there was a slight ripple from the impact on the image below him, but nothing more. He looked up again, and addressed the area at large.

"HELLO!" He shouted out.

"Spyro?" It was a whisper, almost as if a breath of wind had spoken it. It had no source, yet it seemed to come from all around him, even from inside him. He shivered at it and felt fear creep into his heart.

"Am I dead?"

"No, you are early, my son."

"Am I in heaven?"

"Your spirit shall always sit among the stars."

"Of all the messages I was expecting, yours was the least of them." Malefor said, staring down at the leader from his throne. The dragon shuddered, but spoke up.

"My interest in my peoples well-fare drives me to be here Sir. To be honest, I'm tired of fighting, tired of this war. It is my understanding that the legendary purple one has been defeated. Thus I believe our last hope of winning has been vanquished. I have come to discuss our terms of surrender."

"Very well, these are my terms: One, I shall request warriors from your host, volunteers whom wish for great wealth. They shall be assigned to the task force whom is too hunt down the remainders of the resistance. Two, your subjects shall live on this moon, with me, as earth is no longer suitable for us. Three, your subjects shall work for their living and pay a standard tax for taking room on my planet. They shall assist me by a pre-ordained task every day, including yourself. Four: I will rule them, not you. You may still speak for them if you wish." The dragon was taken aback by the terms, but sat and thought them over.

"Here are my terms." He finally said, speaking up, "You will treat us with respect and dignity. You shall not take advantage of us. If we request an act or law or wish, you will listen to it and the judge as you see fit. We want nothing more then for this war to end." Malefor smiled, but only agreed. He conjured up a scroll, and signed it with a claw, dipped in ink.

"And now you sign?" The dragon looked at it carefully, and then signed, and handed back the scroll. Malefor's grin had widened.

"Do all under your rule agree with you?" The dragon looked down and sighed, facepawing.

"No, my sister does not. She thinks you will take advantage of us. But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You seem trustworthy, even if you might have bad intentions at heart."

"Why do you come to me then?"

"Sometimes, as a leader, you do bad things for good reasons..."

"I'ma kill him."

"You don't actually want too."

"I want to, but I won't, cause I know I'll kill myself right after."

Sunset over the Sahara. The small group of dragons had already settled down for the night, and had taken refuge on the far side of a small dune, lighting a tiny smokeless fire, which Blaze had provided the ignition for, and Brooklyn the fuel, in the form of coal, burning embers, and a few weak flames. Blaze and Brooklyn themselves were sitting by the fire, side-by-side, and were joined by two others, one gorgeous female, whom was curled up under Brooklyn's wing, and a small hatchling curled up on his fathers back. The family had come looking for them the day before yesterday, and had finally caught up to deliver some bad news.

"I can't believe my brother did that." Hestia whispered to herself. They had been discussing the turn of events that the small band of warriors had brought, which was that Zeus had defected, along with the entire dragon race basically, to Malefor. Ezio was scared now. He had only the remainder of Alpha squadron, and he had no idea where he was leading them.

Ezio watched as Brooklyn played with his son, wrestling slightly with him. The youngling let out a large belch from dinner, which despite the fact that it had been dry, had tasted quite nicely. Camel, he decided, wasn't his favorite, but it would do. Brooklyn smiled down at him and then belched even louder, showing his son up.

"That's a real mans belch." Brooklyn said, grinning.

"Awe come on dad, no fair!" Brooklyns mate smiled, and then turned towards her husband, opened her mouth to say something, then paused. She held a claw up, then...

"..." Brooklyn went wide eyed, and his son fell over laughing. Ezio smiled at himself. It was good too see a family enjoying each others company. They weren't the only two lovebirds in the camp though.

Another pair he had been keeping a close eye on was Frost and Blaze, whom had stuck together spectacularly well. Frost was even curled up under Blaze's wing, just like Brooklyn's mate. However, from what he could tell, they were just good friends, not mates.

Ezio doubted Frost would ever mate again...

The group had been traveling through the Sahara for a few days now, sleeping between two dunes every night. The only thing was, he had a vague idea of what needed to be done, but not what he needed to do.

"So what exactly IS next, Ez?" Now THAT Ezio hated. He hated that the others kept looking up to him, what with him being the only purple dragon with any sense of decency left. Cyder had left Warfang a couple hours before them. Now they were in a race against her. They had seen her a couple of times over the desert, but whenever they approached her, she had banked away and ran. Ezio didn't want to have to confront the dragoness, but he knew that at some point he would. And despite he was her friend, she might not see him as such. Frost thought the female had lost it when she saw Spyro go down. Ezio thought she just couldn't wait for the others to recover.

Ezio knew better than to push himself endlessly in chase of his beloved...

Now he found he had three goals.

Find Nova.

Keep these dragons around him alive

Kill Malefor.

In that order.

Ezio looked over at Kali, whom nodded, silently telling him it was OK now that they were out of Warfang.

"And what IS that thing?" Blaze asked pointing with his free wing at the Blade protruding from Ezio's front right forepaw.

"This is the sort of thing we are going after."

"Were going after MORE of the things whom contain our leaders soul?"

"Don't be ridiculous Blaze." Kali said, "Do you not know what that is?"

"I'm SORRY, but when I was young and in the academy, I had no clue I was to be the future fire guardian. I was more concerned about getting a date." Ezio facepalmed.

"Blaze, do dragons have a religion?" Blaze was caught off guard by that.

"Of course. Theres this one all powerful deity, right. Supposedly, he takes the form of a wingless dragon curling around Sol, our star. We call him The Ancient, for he surely is. He is one with our Sol, yet different. Sol is the representation of our God, whom created the universe, and watches us all, yet he is also the ancient. It is complicated. And there's a third part as well. The spirit of both, whom we call The All-Seer, for he does exactly that and more. He inspires us, drives us forwards to do justice in the world, and bring righteousness to places where there are none.

Anywho, there is a story. One moonfilled night, when the stars were bright, Sol decided to free the world of pain and misery, and thus he created and sent his son, The Ancient to us, to show us a better path, a path that whilst narrow and hard, and had many stones which stung our feet, it would eventually lead us to Sol's halls." he explained looking into the firelight.

"And what was the path?"

"Him. One day, a serpent comes along. He says to The Ancient then, 'Why do you torment my people? Are they not happy?' The Ancient nods and replies 'Aye, but they know not of what you lead them too. Begone serpent. I have no need of your treacherous lies. These people are my people, and they do not deserve to be led to your pits.' The serpent grew angry, and in retaliation, he turned to the Ancient and says 'I will not have this! These are my people for me to use as I wish!' And he turns to the people, and attempts to swallow them whole. In his righteousness, The Ancient leaps in front of them and shields his subjects, and instead, he himself is eaten." Blaze shuddered at this, "It's a violent story, but many people believe in it wholeheartedly. Anyways, for three days and nights, the Ancient spends his time in the serpents stomach, and on the morning of the third day, he bursts out the serpent, killing him instantly. The Ancient turns to what are now his subjects, and says 'Follow my sacrifice, and you too may conquer death." He finished.

"And what do you think of this?" Ezio asked. Blaze raised one brow.

"I think it's utter rubbish. Whoever heard of such a thing?" Blaze said, grinning. Ezio chuckled to himself.

"We have a similar story. Our ancient was named by the name of 'Emmanuel' or 'God with us' in Hebrew. He lived the life of a prophet, traveling from one town to another, teaching his fathers words. He even predicted his own death. On Palm Sunday, or what we consider palm Sunday, he rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, fulfilling an ancient prophesy of the son of God coming to vanquish the enemy of the Hebrews. Many thought he would finish the Roman empire. There was a group of teachers in Jerusalem, whom we know only as the teachers of the temple located in that city. They refer to them in the bible as 'Hypocrites'. A week after Palm Sunday, Emmanuel is arrested for blasphemy. He is humiliated beaten, whipped, and finally crucified on a cross with two other criminals. We humans call this day Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, the morning three days after Good Friday, he rises from the grave, rolling away the stone to his tomb and emerging to ascend into heaven, beginning the first church before he goes.

To be honest Blaze, I'm not a believer. My mother was, but she was never around long enough to have an influence on me. My dad hardly ever saw me, he'd be gone for months or years at a time, so I learned the law of the streets, not that of heaven. But anymore now, I'm not sure whether I made the right choice. With the death of Nova, I'm beginning to feel my mortality." Blaze's grin dropped, and he nodded his head, "It is said that during those three days whilst Emmanuel was dead, he took the sins of our race upon his shoulders, and spent an eternity in hell for every person whom he took the blame of for three days. I can't imagine the devil would be terribly nice to him, being his mortal enemy. However, on the third day, he rose, conquering death in the process. And now by following him by dying, and being born again, it is said a Christian can rise to heaven with him."

Blaze nodded, "It sounds similar. Our stories of ancients are different, because they use symbols and figures more than real life scenarios. However, it sounds similar still. Do you think they can be one and the same?"

"I think they are, simply because of this blade."

"Now were getting somewhere."

"What be it, Ezio?" Brooklyn asked. The dragon had been considerably quiet, but Ezio thought thats because he had been enjoying his family and spending time with them.

"In ancient Rome, after a criminal was crucified, it was custom to break the legs of the crucified and then bury them on the edge of town. However, when a roman soldier saw that Emmanuel was dead, he took his spear, and stabbed Christ in the side, and blood and water flowed from his body, signifying that he was both human, because of the blood, and divine, because of the crystal clear water. The man whom stabbed him was named Longinus, whom used a custom Roman lance. At that time, the symbol of the roman army was an Eagle, which fit well, but many soldiers customized their weapons. It is possible this was convenient as Longinus appeared to have customized his." At this Ezio brought the blade out over the fire, holding it in the light. Blaze looked at Ezio, looked at the blade, and then his mouth dropped. Engraved on one side was a dragon pristine as if it had never faded from age. The blade emitted a faint blue glow itself, as if it were alive.

"Your joking!" Blaze said as he extended his paw to grab it, but Ezio yanked it out of reach.

"Blaze, this is just more than an ancient lance blade. The lance of Longinus had to be powerful to pierce holy flesh. Either that, or, I think the more likely opinion was that the lance was imbued with power when it stabbed Emmanuel. The origins of it I know. At that time, there were other creatures besides humans living on the earth. I think that this lance came from a dragon warrior, whom had left when they had been attacked by humans, or when the roman empire came. Probably the later. Longinus simply saw it, and thought it looked nice."

"So it's draconian?" Blaze asked, looking at it.

"It's better than that, this lance was made during the reign of the Ancestors. It was probably forged by them." Blazes eyes went wide.

"Anyways, the Knights Templar searched for the artifact for ages, finally finding this piece in stonehenge. A knight wrote about it, and Ignitus had a copy of his research in his library. The rest of the pieces are scattered. Last lead was in the great pyramids in Giza."

"Why was it broken down and hidden?"

"The pieces can't be destroyed as far as we know. Thus the best the ancestors could do when they found out about the powers of the Lance was break it down, and scatter them to the four corners of the earth."

"OK, so what does this piece do?"

"It captures souls." Blaze, if anything had sudden dawning comprehension.

"Then that means Spyro is..."

"Right..."

"How do we get him out?"

"We need his body. But we can't get that without getting past Malefor. And I'm not strong enough to fight him alone. I need the rest of the pieces." Blaze shut his mouth and nodded.

"Are there not protections around the other pieces?" Brooklyn asked quietly.

"Probably. We must be cautious."

The next day found the group soaring low over the terrain in the early morning light. Ezio lead the pack, winding through the hills. They had to keep low to avoid radar detection. Brooklyn's son, whom was called Cleveland, had been the first to spot the great pyramids of Giza. He had surprisingly come of great use. Frost had retrieved Thundra the day before the dragons had left, and Cleveland had proven to be very good with younger ones. Ezio banked towards the structures, and scanned the ground for tourists.

"Ez! We have to make sure we aren't spotted!" Frost shouted from behind, against the wind. The group landed then as Ezio turned towards the ground.

"We don't have to walk in there anymore like cowards Frost. We just have to make an impression of solidity. Don your armor, ten minutes." Ezio walked off, calling his armor out of the magical void he used to store it. The thing had dents in it from the last time he used it, in the siege, but it would only make him look more opposing. He had had some good contacts recently from some friends of his, and he had determined he could use their help. Hefting his armor up on himself, he hid the Blade between the gap of the plating and the crook of his back, making sure he could yank it out at any time. Returning too the group, the others were there, although Frost was looking a bit discouraged in her translucent blue spiked armor. Blaze had his wavy red armor on as well, which seemed to spark in eagerness with being back in the real world with the right warrior. Brooklyn had donned the blocky tan armor, which made him massive, even next to Blaze, as it made him two feet taller than normal. Even still, he just barely stood at Blaze's height. Ion, whom had chattered so much from the trip from Warfang to Giza that Ezio had threatened to have Brooklyn cement his jaw shut was also standing there, eager apparently to go, as his own jagged spiky armor set flashed in the bright morning sun. Kali had also donned her own minimalist shadow force armor. Brooklyn was kissing his mate good-bye.

"We will send word before sundown, I promise." He said quietly.

"Be careful." She replied softly. Brooklyn nodded, kissed her once more, then hugged his son.

"Can't I come pop?" He asked excitedly. Brooklyn just laughed.

"No, I need someone to stay here and protect your mom and Thundra. You'll be the man of the camp now, do you think you can do that?" Cleveland stood at attention then, and saluted with his wing, though it was very short. Ezio smiled at that. Brooklyn saluted his son, and then turned towards the group.

Blaze nudged him as they left, "Can you get any sappier?" Brooklyn rolled his eyes, but smiled.

Hestia had no armor, but she had fashioned herself a convexity energy shield in the ten minutes he had allotted, covering herself in the areas armor normally would. The strange armor gave her a very unique appearance. The group ran together in no particular formation, towards the Valley of Kings. Ezio knew that his contacts were residing in the village of Thebes, which many considered modern day Luxor. However, his contact had assured him that Thebes still existed down the Nile, upstream.

It took half a day to get to the tiny village at their speed. They covered about one hundred miles in that time, stopping only to drink from the water canteens they had to keep themselves hydrated. By the time they arrived at the tiny village, they were all tired sore and hot, all fo them sweating profusely. They entered the village at speed, but soon were forced to slow down as the crowds grew. It was rather packed for being such a small village.

It was the strangest sight to be honest. For the first time ever, dragons, and other creatures were walking among humans. And it seemed normal. They packed underneath the canvas roof over the street seeking shelter form the shade. On either side there were merchants hawking their wares wherever they went. Ezio headed up the small hill the village was built on to the town center, then stopped a young human.

"Can you tell me where a red dragon whom might be looking for me is staying?" The boy smiled up at him and pointed.

"He'll find you."

"Apparently so." The group turned and wandered down the street, shoving their way through with their bulk. Despite the fact that the town was small, Ezio knew that they were being searched for, so he had told the squadron to keep their eyes peeled for any sign of trouble. When he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he knew he was in trouble.

"CONTACTS!" Brooklyn roared. Five black shadows dove out from a side alley as the crowd shouted and scattered, trying to get away from the powers they were launching from their maws. Ezio raised his paw, took careful aim, and fired his light element to try and ward them off. Two bolts escaped him, one barely missing his head, and the other smiting Frost in the chest, whom was thrown back. Blaze roared then, causing the crowd to turn and run in earnest, and raised up on his hind paws, his forepaws flaming. Ezio had thought Blaze was a massive dragon before, but now he was towering at at least twenty-five feet. He had broken through the canvas street-roof, and the cloth had ripped beautifully to show the sun. Blaze came down on top of one dragon, , crushing his spine beneath his weight. The other paw came down and sent a wave of fire out, white hot. Two dragons got a face of third degree burns. The waves of fire slipped over the buildings and surrounding material, but none of it caught fire. Ion took down his own enemy as well, shooting the dragon through the heart with a bolt of lightning from on high. Hestia however delved into her power best. Several shots glanced off her armor as she rocked toward the remaining trio. She conjured a convexity spike, shoved it through one of the dragons heads, and then shoved him back into his comrades. She lept over the two as they fell, and sent out two quick beams of convexity, finishing off the last.

"Frost! Frost!" Blaze was shouting and all was a haze of confusion. Frost had hit a merchants stall. The merchant, being good of heart was holding her head in his hands. The female was still breathing, but there was a smoking hole in her chest, having gone through her armor. The fire dragon fumbled on the clips on the chest piece, and then yanked it off finally when they came free. She was still conscious amazingly.

Coughing up blood, the female looked up at Ezio.

"Ez? Whats my damage?" Ezio looked down. He knew just enough to know it was incredibly serious.

"Severe lacerations. Blood loss. Internal bleeding. Severe trauma to both heart and lungs. Incredibly though, it didn't hit anything vital from what I can tell." Frost chuckled and closed her eyes, but suddenly lashed out and grabbed Blazes paw, yanking him towards her.

"I can still make it." she said quietly, "But just in case, go ahead."

Blaze went wide eyed, "I thought you said no?"

"Better to die in a lovers arms than to die in a person whom you regret never telling." Blaze leaned down then and pressed his lips against the females, holding her head. Ezio gave them all the time they wanted. Finally, Frost broke back.

"Now get me a medic for Ancients sake." She said quietly. Blaze hefted the female up on his back and then launched forwards.

"Ezio? Where is that damn contact!" Ezio turned and ran up the street, looking around frantically. Suddenly, a door opened to his right, and several brightly colored dragons ran out, armed for battle. Ezio collided full on with Bane. The dragon snarled and tried to get on top. Ezio felt his stomach drop to the ground as he realized it was gravity being used on him. Only THEN did he stop. Bane held one claw under his chin, then smiled in surprise.

"Well if it don't be me contact. Your a bit out of your zone here, aren't ye Ezio?" He said, smiling down at the purple legendary, and then getting off.

"Speak for yourself ya crazy Scotsman. And save the clap-trap, we - "

"Blaze! Brooklyn! You brought everyone!" His eyes fell on Frost the lying across Blazes back.

"Little help?" Frost said, smiling weakly at him.

"Bloody hellfire. Get her to the upstairs bedroom! Come on! GO!" Bane said, dragging Beam and Photon forwards. Ezio fell into Blaze running next to him, feeding his Life energy into Frost. The group reached the upstairs bedroom with difficulty. Blaze lunged ahead and jumped the entire flight of stairs inside the home, and then dashed down the hallway, lying the dragoness softly on the bed.

"MOVE!" The red dragon shouted as he shouldered past Blaze. It was Anvel, with healing supplies in hand. He instantly shot Frost through with Morphine, then dived his paw inside the gaping wound, barely squeezing through. He had a gel on his hands, and a plastic tube in the other. Finally, as an artery suddenly sprayed his chest with blood, he called to Blaze.

"Don't just stand there! HELP ME OUT! One of her heart champers has a small open wound." He said, as more blood splattered him. Blaze grabbed the gel as well and saw that it was instant synthetic flesh. It was meant for exterior wounds, not interior. But it'd have to do. The male slathered it over his hands, then nodded at Anvel, whom suddenly withdrew to let Blaze in. The fire dragon dove in and felt around for the lumpy mass of the females heart.

His females heart...

He was slightly disgusted at first, but when he felt the organ bump his palm, he seized it firmly, making sure it didn't escape his grasp, then gently pressed his palm up against the side, where he elt a tiny hole, which was very rough. He knew the shadow lance had burned through the tissue cauterizing it. He felt the synth-flesh make contact, and instantly begin transforming to the tissue it had met.

It felt like vertigo, holding the heart of another being, especially one who loved him. Frost looked up at him, eyes wide with fear as he made sure the synth-flesh healed in place. Finally, he felt the organic tissue form. It felt very fragile. Anvel dove back into the ice dragoness, inserting the tube into one of the arteries, then drew back out. He checked her pulse with bloody paws, then felt her head. Finally, he offered the female some water, which she leaned up and grabbed, drinking as if her life depended on it.

Anvel finally took the last of the tube of synth-flesh, spread it over her open wound, both entrance and exit, and then retreated to the doorway, where he addressed Blaze.

"Is she going to be fine?"

"She will be extremely tired, so she must rest, and at best, she must not even sit up in her bed. And I'm going to suggest someone be with her at all times." He said, then opened the door. Blaze walked over to the bed, hopped up on it, and lay his head across the females chest, whom looked down at him.

"Sleep. I'll be here." She sighed, then leaned back and relazed, falling asleep instantly. Brooklyn poped his head inside the door, smiled at the younger fire dragon, then whispered, "Can you get any sappier?"

Blaze smiled, and then whispered back, "Shut up." Brooklyn chuckled at that.


	2. Chapter 2

"I need a drink Bane. Something strong. You got a Guinness?" Ezio asked, lying down by the couch in the living room. A mole rushed in and handed the dragon a flask of an Amber liquid, which Ezio promptly downed then shuddered.

"That's better, that always tends to jerk me into awareness. You seem to have the best timing Bane."

"Aye. I like to be where things are happening. When we heard of your disappearance, we decided to do a bit of digging and found that a Nighthawk sentry had seen you heading south. When we heard of sightings of a dark purple dragoness in the area, we thought it might be Cynder with you guys, so we headed here quickly. It was a volunteer thing. No - " There was a sudden pounding at the door.

"Bane! OPEN UP!" Beam and Photon flanked the door while Bane got ready to open it. As soon as the latch came up, the door burst open as if it had been shot from a cannon and a streak of white almost faster than the eye could track zipped around the room, upto the top floor, then back down, stopping in front of Ezio.

"If you've gotten any of my team killed, I'll finish you. What happened?" Katana demanded to the purple dragon.

"A shadow force attack from one of the alleyways. She'll make it now. She's resting."

"So I saw. Blaze will be good for her." Katana said, settling down on the other side of Ezio, away from Hestia. Bane turned back to the legendary's then, shaking his head.

"You like to leap before you look, don't you Katana? You'll get yeself killed at some point lass, doing that." He said, shaking his head.

"She'll do more than that. Still won't let me make an armor set for her." Anvil said, walking past the living room into the kitchen.

"I already have Armor, Anvil! Don't need some metal sheets protecting me when my own hide is tougher!" The female yelled back, rolling onto her side.

In all, the house was cramped. It was larger for a small towns home, but then it was holding 13 fully grown dragons and the hosts family, plus several refugees. Despite this, the family themselves seemed very happy, as did the refugees. The children were playing with Terridor in the backyard at the moment, climbing all over the massive dragon, whom seemed very content. Brooklyn was talking to him at the moment. Ion had convened with Beam and Photon in the kitchen and were conversing rapidly with the father, as the mother busily moved around the room, making the massive dinner. Blaze was still upstairs with Frost. It had been two days since they had arrived at the home, and the dragoness had only woken for water and food. She still had major blood-loss. Blaze hadn't left her side. He hadn't even taken off his armor.

The host had been very welcoming. To Ezio's surprise, they spoke english, and furthermore, they were very receptive of the dragons, simply nice people. He had discovered a bit later, after talking to them though that they were Christians.

"Why should we refuse people when we are all creatures in Christ? Times might have changed, but our beliefs have not." the wife said, as she slid a plate of potatoes towards Ezio, "Do you mind skinning those?"

Ezio grabbed the first potato and began slicing with the sharp edge of his claw. It worked wonderfully.

"Why is your family living here?" Ezio asked, focusing on his work.

"My husband is a missionary. Around here they worship several gods, and we are here to help them." She said, turning on the mix for the potato salad.

"And how do you help them?" Ezio asked.

"We simply help them with modern amenities. This town did not have electricity before we came. Nor did it have plumbing. Now it's much better, it's bearable. It's livable."

"What about your faith?"

"What about it?"

"Yeah, do you not try and minister to them?"

"Why should we? Our service alone is enough. We have led many people in this town to God, and still our religion grows."

"But WHY?"

"What?"

"Why do you do this for your faith?"

"We do not do it for faith, we do it because it's the right thing to do." Ezio had been surprised. He had been expecting the sort of Christians whom tried to shove their religion down your throat. Instead he found an excellent family.

_I wonder if this is what real Christianity is about._

His mother had always been a strong believer, but he had never caught on. And in all his time fighting and traveling, he had seen nothing to support the fact that there was any greater being. He didn't even put faith in the dragons so-called "Ancestors".

**WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM**

"OPEN UP!" Ezio jerked his head around, dropping the potato in his claws at the same time, and running towards the door. Katana met him.

"No, no, the cellar! We gotta hide." Katana said, rushing around and shoving him towards the hole that had opened in the floor. Katana dived down, but Beam and Photon stayed above the ground, guarding the entrance. There was a rumbling out in the closed in back yard, and Brooklyn rushed blindly in, banging things around. Ion was hot on his heels.

"Oh my ancestors, this is too much, too much of a squall for me. Too much running." Ion muttered.

"Shut up Ion." Ezio hissed after him as they jumped down to the pit below. There was a small square of light that was cut off and then they were in pitch black darkness.

There was a banging sound as the door flew open, and some mumbling talking. There was a low crackling then behind Ezio and the male turned around.

"Ion, what on earth?"

"Ssh. I'm not going down without a fight, and you know it. This is just in case." He was holding a tiny orb of bright lightning in his hand, and it was making the lowest of rumbling noises as the high voltage arced across his paw.

There was more mumbling, and then a voice rang out.

"Shadow seek. Do so now." Kali swore behind Ezio then, and backed up swiftly. They all backed up. Except Ion. There was a shout then, and someone was rattling at the door.

"What might we find down here then, eh? Sargeant, check the rooms upstairs, subdue those two." The door swung open and looked down, seeing only Ion, with his attack charged.

"Welcome!" And then he fired, his power arcing from his palm to smite the lieutenant in the center of it's forehead. There was a big smoldering hole in the dragons head as he fell from his perch. The Electric guardian leapt from where he was leaving the others behind. Jumping up he perched on the edge of the trapdoor hole and then shot forward, his body arcing with electricity. Ezio had never watched Ion's fighting style before, as he had been otherwise engaged. But now he was more amazed than anything. The Guardians movements were jerking, going from one point to the next. He did not punch, he jabbed, at pressure points, zapping them. One dragon fell to the floor, only his eyes moving and his nose flaring, his shadow power leaking out of him. Ion's paws were blurring at the edges, sizzling the air. Ezio could feel a very faint buzz.

The third shadow force dragon backed up switching and dodging as much as possible. The first vital to go was the dragons powers, which also began to leek out of himself. Then one of his legs gave out. Ezio didn't see how, the attack was too fast. Suddenly, the dragon shot forwards and landed a blow on Ion's chin. As a final attempt, as Ion fell backwards, he sent one claw into the dragons gut. Whatever he did, he struck home. The lieutenant dropped to the ground, paralyzed.

Ion lay on his back, panting hard as there was a final thud in the bedroom above. Blaze shouted down from the room.

"We got him!"

* * *

><p>"Where in blazes did you learn that?" Ezio asked quietly, sitting around a fire in the backyard.<p>

"My old pa taught me when I turned three." Ion replied, staring into the fire. He had been unusually quiet, but his willingness to tell this story was surprising, "He died when a group of raiders destroyed our homestead in Northern Oregon. I've been making a life for myself ever since, living off the philosophies he taught me. I was twelve at the time when he died."

"Where did you go?"

"Where didn't I go? I kept low to the ground, but flew the globe. I know the world map like the back of my hand."

Ezio was silent for a bit longer, but he was still curious.

"What were the virtues your dad taught?"

"It's funny, that. My dad was never in a war, never joined an army, never had been raised in a militia, but that dragon knew how to fight. His first lesson to me was that of how lightning, my element, works.

Lightning is not slow. It doesn't deliberate when it strikes. It doesn't give it's prey a chance to run. It doesn't give a warning. It cannot be controlled or contained or nullified. Humans themselves have proven this. They have something called a lightning rod, which as a conductor for lightning. But all it does is lead the voltage away form the home and channel it into the ground where it dies off. It can still strike anywhere. It is energetic, spontaneous, random to the extreme.

My old dragon saw this as an extension of my personality, as an extension of me. I talk incessantly when allowed, speak whats on my mind, and hold very little back.

My old dragon taught me to fight like lightning. He himself was a water dragon, ironically. It was my mum, whom died shortly after my childbirth, that was an electric dragon. She had never used her power once in her life. My dad taught me not to wait, when an enemy presents itsef, to strike immediately. Whenever I fight, whether in large fights or small ones, I always try to get it over with as soon as possible, and focus all my power into that first alpha strike. I never circle my opponent, never growl or attempt to intimidate them, never attempt to move into a better position, I just strike with all the power I can muster every single time. Anymore now it doesn't matter where I strike from, or where I hit on my opponent, I always hit with deadly or near deadly accuracy, instantly, every single time."

"Don't you grow tired quickly?"

"Obviously. You must have seen that while I was fighting them today?" Ion said, glancing Ezio's way, "I was growing fatigued, and that dragon was able to get a hit in on me. But it doesn't matter. Most times I hit so hard in the first strike that I can let myself recharge as I pick a new target to go after."

"Your surprised?" Ion asked, turning back to Ezio.

"Mildly. The more I learn about you all, the more I learn you've all got a story." Ezio said quietly. Kali walked back into the backyard then, leading two shadow lieutenants. At the same time, they both dropped cloak revealing themselves to be Beam and Photon.

"I trust you have good news, Kali?" Ezio said, standing then.

"Yes. I know where the piece is. The local shadow force has located it. They are waiting for reinforcements before they assault the location."

"And the location?" Ezio asked, anticipating.

"North of the valley of kings."

* * *

><p>"Anything Brooklyn?" Ezio asked anxiously again. Brooklyn shook his head, his feet anchored to the ground as the dust and sand flowed through his claws. He seemed annoyed.<p>

"I'll tell you if and when I find something, alright?" Brooklyn said quietly. Ezio nodded and moved off. He didn't like this, his group, whom had snuck out quietly at dawn was greatly exposed out here in the desert. They had flown about one hundred and fifty miles before Kali said they had reached the spot. Ion had been quiet the entire way. Ezio was afraid he might have pushed too far last night.

"I don't like this." Katana said as Ezio approached her, "Were going against a power we know nothing about, which is supposed to be far more powerful than any of us can comprehend. And we've got no idea how to use it or defeat it. How're we supposed to - "

"Contact!" Brooklyn shouted over his shoulder. The group rocketed towards him from all directions, where they had been keeping watch. He was obviously struggling, "It's slippery and deep. Give me a bit."

There were subtle vibrations in the ground now that were getting stronger. When Ezio thought the ground would split open from the quaking, it did. A sharp steeple broke the surface as the foundations the monument were built upon rose from the grave. The massive structure kept rising, getting bigger and bigger. Ezio's eyes went wide when they were cast into it's shadow. The structure must have been five times the size the pyramids of Giza. By some divine luck, the entrance seemed to be right in front of them.

"This temple seems to be made to be navigated by earth dragons only. Similar to how the temple beneath Stonehenge was made for electric dragons only. However, I'm sure I can open most doors." Brooklyn said quietly. There was a quiet pause as the earth dragon focused, then the ground vibrated, and the door in front of them opened. All that could be seen inside was a few feet until there was complete darkness. The group approached the monolith slowly, Ezio at the lead.

The first thing Ezio noticed was that the ruin seemed to be completely intact. It wasn't a ruin at all really, just a structure. There wasn't even any erosion. Not even dust. A little way inside, Ezio used his light element to cause his skin to glow. What he was presented with stunned him at first.

There were three paths to take here, not including the one back to the entrance. However, just a short ways ahead of themselves, Ezio could see the forwards path cut into three sections. The left path cut into two, and the right actually cut into four.

"A labyrinth." Katana said quietly, "And were supposed to get to the center?"

"Yes. I can feel it, but I couldn't tell you where I feel it. It's in there somewhere." Brooklyn said in a hushed voice. None of them knew why they were whispering. The place felt serene, peaceful. But Ezio knew better. This was more like the calm before the storm.

"Take a different path than the others, use elements if you can to guide yourself back if you get lost or need to try again. Watch for traps and enemies around every corner." Ezio whispered, taking the very center path. Katana took the one to the left of him, and Hestia took the one to the right. The others took branching paths, hoping to come across luck. Two were left open. Ezio knew why. Two were missing from their number.

Frost still wasn't healed. She wouldn't be for a long time. Blaze had elected to stay behind and watch her. Bane was also healing, having been wounded by a shadow lieutenant that had been unnecessarily rough. Anvil, as always, stayed behind because of his age. And Terridor could barely even walk now.

Terridor had changed since Ezio had last seen him, at Malefor's home camp. The old war hero had definitely stopped fighting, but beyond that, he seemed so calm. When Brooklyn had asked about this, Terridor had replied with a smile, and a short sentence.

"I'm calm because it's your turn Ezio." He had said in his deep barritone. Not even quake had matched his extremely deep voice.

Now Ezio wasn't sure if he wanted it to be his turn. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be responsible for all these lives, whether they volunteered or not.

Ezio took a left at the next fork, a double, and found himself staring at five different directions, all of them darkened with shadow. He looked back, and found he was utterly alone, the silence pressing in on him. Or maybe it was the stifling air. Or maybe it was that odd feeling that he was being followed. Sweat dripped from his brow as he took a single step towards the middle left fork.

A scream ripped through the air, and Ezio's neck hairs stood on end. It was male. He was about to turn and run back to help when he heard more shouting.

"DAMNIT PHOTON, YOU DORK FACE!" It was Beam. Ezio guessed that Photon had snuck up behind him. Ezio laughed aloud, and heard the others as well.

"Well, it's good to hear someones voice." He heard Hestia call from one of the other tunnels. It echoed in front of him. Directly in front of him, from one of his tunnels.

"Hestia, it's me, Ezio. This one connects to my branch, head back to one of your others!" He shouted at her.

"Alright, thanks Ez." She called back. Ezio again struck out on his original course. The path sloped upwards and to his right, climbing over the center course.

_This maze works in three dimensions, great._

Ezio still had the feeling he was being followed. And several branches later, after leaving a spot of light at the entrance to each fork he took, he was completely lost. And his friends voices kept on getting dimmer and dimmer.

Eventually, he broke into a run, hoping to find the entrance by sheer dumb luck. The end of a tunnel was up ahead. He was sprinting full out now.

He broke out into a large chamber, but it was obviously not the place he was looking for. It was large and circular, and there must have been fifty different paths. He turned slowly in the center, hoping to find something.

Nothing. Not a speck of light, not a trace of elemental energy, not one thing. Except that omnipresent feeling of being watched. The chamber was pitch black, but because of his draconic eyes, he could see clearly, even though it was dim. Or was it?

Dimmer. And dimmer still. Finally, he lost all perception as he lost any reference point on meaningful features.

_The room is getting darker?_

"Hello?"

Nothing. Except...

There wasn't a roar or anything, he just felt something brush his side. It was the lightest of touches, so light he wasn't even sure whether it was there or – no wait, there it was again, this time on the very tip of his nose.

A shiver ran up his spine now. He didn't know what or who it was, what it's powers were, whether it was good or bad.

The voice that came next almost sounded like a breath of wind, it was so quiet. But so profound was his loneliness that he heard it loud and clear.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo goooooooooooOOOOoooooes theeeeeeeeeeeere?" The breath of voice didn't creak or howl. It more wished the words into existence, as if it vibrated the air around him for the sole purpose of making communication. It's pitch varied, almost like the wind though.

"I am Ezio Starfire!" Ezio proclaimed to the voice, "A guardian of the Lance of Longinus, protector of peace, and a paladin of the people."

Then a new voice joined in. This one chilled the blood in his veins. He knew this voice. He knew it from one nightmare that had felt more reality than dream.

"You should teach him a lesson sir." The original voice said nothing, but there was a visible shift in where he was. Suddenly, he blinked, and there was Nova standing in front of him. He blinked again, several times. She looked real enough. He approached her slowly. Yes, everything was there. But she stared at something behind him. He turned, and nearly died of shock. This was Nova too. It was even a Nova he recognized. Barely.

She was bleeding from a small deep slice in her skin, which must have punctured her lung. Both wings were broken, her collarbone snapped so that it hung at an odd angle. One leg was broken so much that it was folded mostly back on itself, and the bone protruded in sharp jagged edges. Her tail had been sliced completely clean off about two feet from the base of her tail. Her esophagus was exposed, the jugular vein snapped clean in half. He could see part of her intestines lying on the ground. By all means, this creature should have been completely dead. But Ezio never forgot the fact that she began moving. She got UP. Her head turned towards him and he saw one eye had been gouged completely out, the retina dangling in the socket. The last thing Ezio remembered was the fact that there was more blood than there should have been, probably his own mixed with hers.

The zombie, or reincarnation, or beast or Nova, whatever it was, cackled madly with the second voices sound, croaking past a throat that should have made no sound.

"You should be afraid now, young fool. I did warn you."

_WHY! WHY DO I FEAR!_

"You fear that you may lose her..." She said, or it, or whatever. Ezio's mind raced madly.

_I HAVE LOST HER! THAT IS NOT WHY!_

"Then you fear you may lose her heart. I could always give it to you..."

Ezio fought madly with this demon, whatever it was. He fought harder and harder until something in his mind snapped back to where it was supposed to be. He could actually feel his sanity return to normal.

_NO!_

"NO! I HAVE NOT LOST HER! Nor shall I ever. This is not Nova, and we both know it. This an abomination. A treacherous lie, made to cause pain! There is nothing I fear, except fear itself! For I know that if I die, if I fail in my mission and we all end up in the bowls of hell, she will always be there. Even if we are at the farthest reaches from each other, physical, mental, or spiritual, it matters not, I can rest easy knowing that her spirit and her love that she wholeheartedly gave me will always be there! No, in the name of the Ancient, BEGONE, demon of pain, and may you never lay siege to my shadow again!" There was a rush of air and a pop, and Ezio was back in the circular chamber. There were even lamps on and Ezio could see clearly. There was no sign of any demon, only one figure, whom he knew from mythology right away...

"Greetings, Death." Ezio addressed the cloaked figure. Ezio was glad he could not see his face, glad that he had not pounced, "You have been shadowing me."

The howling voice came from Death now, although it was of much higher clarity. He stood not ten feet away. His Sickle slung across his back, honed to a perfect edge, "I have. If you know I have been shadowing you, then you probably also have figured that I have not pounced yet either."

Ezio knew now, that the sound of Death's voice was not the howl of wind. Most like the rush of life. Or Death, whichever way you look at it.

"You seek the female whom escaped my grasp." It was not a question. Ezio nodded, not taking his eyes off the figure. He didn't trust Death. Not yet anyways. He wasn't ready to die.

"I am owed her."

"Hardly. Her appointed time may have come, but if it did, and she did not arrive to the party, then she is simply rescheduling." Death produced a tiny image of Nova in his hands. Ezio was going to glance at it quickly, but he stopped when he saw it. The body was of remarkable clarity, but her eyes captured his intentions. Love, primarily, but ferocity, unblemished, wise, caring, free eyes stared back. It was a perfect replica of her, in every way. Nova turned, smiled at Ezio, then rotated completely to death, smiled again, and talked to him from his palm.

"Sorry, friend, but I decide my own time, not you." She said quietly.

Ezio knew then that she was alive. All he had to do was just get to her.

"How did she escape?" Ezio asked quietly.

"She saw my hands and face, and merely funneled her energy into you."

_WHAT!_

"I can see it too. Her traits shine like a beacon in you. She is not dead, and thus not in heaven, nor hell. Only in between. I'll have her some day, but she is right. It is her choice, she is one of the few to make it. You yourself have the same choice."

"Why did you come?"

"To give you fair warning friend. I shall be watching much closer as your goal approaches. So far I have held off from attempting to claim you, simply because your actions are noble and pure. You wish to save her life, simply because she deserves better. She's had it hard, and your right, I agree. None of your actions have been for yourself. And I do not take those whom have such righteous souls. However, you'll soon learn that sometimes, bad people make good choices for the wrong reasons. And even more often, good people make bad choices, for the same reasons. Learn from that. I'll be watching."

With a swish of his cloak, he was gone. Leaving only a note behind. It had longhand writing on it, which was fancy and precise at the same time.

Say hello to our mutual friend for me.

It had a portrait of Nova beneath the message. It was incredibly detailed. Ezio felt a strong hunger to see the female again, but he squashed that feeling right away.

"If I want this to turn out for the better, I must do this for her, not for my desire of her." Ezio said quietly.

There was silence for a long while, then the ground began to vibrate slowly, as if there was great machinery beneath him.

"No, that wasn't right!" Brooklyn said loudly beneath him, "Ezio?"

"In a bit! Head back outside, I think this is it!" He was rotating upwards, the floor being lifted like a massive elevator. Finally, the ceiling came into view, and stopped about twenty feet above himself. The walls closed in to make a square room out of a circular one. Then, a couple of clicks opened a door in the ceiling, and out lowered a tiny pyramid, pointing towards the stone floor. The point was exposed, and in crystal clear glass was a very long rod, threaded at both ends, and engraved with intricate licks of flame.

Ezio was about to grab the piece of staff when the very dragoness he knew would be there caught the corner of his eye, lunging at him from the shadows. He could have sworn he saw death then, but he rolled his head and made his body follow, slamming onto his side as the females outstretched talons whipped overhead. The legendary came to a sliding stop on the other side of the room.

"Greetings, Cynder." He said, nodding to the Shadow Dragoness and not taking his eyes off of her.


	3. Chapter 3

It was like he had stepped into a bad dream...

Like the world was fighting against him...

Like Death had known all along...

The gash along Ezio's back, not deep or wide, but large enough to trail blood was reminding him that this moment was all very real...

And the glowing red eyes from his friend turned enemy in front of him made him want to wake up...

"Cynder?" Ezio said quietly, unsure whether he should fight back or not. She only circled him, hissing softly. Her wings were torn in specific areas, and in some places the gashes had yet to heal. Her eyes were no longer a deep vibrant green, but a crimson red.

The female lunged again, this time missing by only a hairs breadth. Ezio rolled back upwards after his dodge to face her again, teeth barred this time.

_Not too the death._

So far she had completely ignored the spear shaft floating gently in the center of the room. Ezio couldn't imagine why. He didn't even give it a second thought. He only prepared himself for the next attack. He heard a scream form behind, and jumped, spinning in mid-air only to be hit full force in the face with a blast of fear attack.

He recognized the feeling at once.

"OH NO YOU DON'T DEMON!" Ezio shouted, throwing off the familiar,sickening feeling of the demon whom had presented himself to Ezio in that clear outside New Warfang, whom just not a minute ago had spoken with him. When the vision of Nova had faded, he found Cynder already in mid-air, flying towards him as if in slow motion.

Ezio rolled, but instead of rolling down towards the ground, he flung himself into the air, rolling so that his back was exposed to Cynder, activating his light element at the same time. He felt the dragoness latch deep into his skin and begin ripping. Ezio unsheathed the Blade. He felt the impact against the far wall, pinning Cynder underneath his well toned muscles. The Blade was held in his tail, quivering at the black (for she truly was black now) dragoness's throat. She froze at the touch of metal to skin.

"You DO know what this is." Cynder lashed out with her teeth, jabbing her neck forwards to grab the Blade, since her forelegs were pinned. Ezio yanked it out of her open mouth. The female was trying frantically to get at it and yank it away from him.

"Hold on Cynder!" She hissed loudly, but stopped short when he withdrew the blade from her esophagus. The blade was poised between his two hands, as if he were ready to break a twig.

"Cynder, if you know what this is, then you probably know something else. Only a purple dragon can destroy this. Malefor imbued some of his power in me, so I can break this just as easily as you." As if to threaten her, he tested it edgily, "I'd hate to think what would happen to the soul inside."

Cynder snarled violently, and went to attack again, but Ezio thrust it out, and pushed the blade to it's limits. Cynder stopped in her tracks and hissed angrily at him. The blade seemed to glow in protest.

"Your a tough dragon Ezio, but you don't have the guts." She said. Her voice hissed for a while, as if the room echoed.

"No, your right, I'd rather not, so I'll make you a bargain. I won't break this, but if you attack me, it will likely break from the force you hit me at." Ezio said quietly, still holding the blade away and bending it violently, "If that means it torturers Spyro's soul, just to save yours, then so be it. He'll thank me when this is over."

Cynder hissed again, and then turned and paced, Ezio still holding the blade. Finally, she turned back to him.

"What are your demands?" She asked quickly.

"Take the shaft." The dragoness almost seemed to look at it in surprise, as if she had just seen it for the first time. Glancing suspiciously at Ezio, she grabbed the lance shaft. The main body of it glowed a bright green. Towards the tip, it turned to bright red, and towards the tail it was bright yellow.

The shaft almost gleamed in response to her touch, but then faded. It suddenly vibrated violently, shaking her entire arm at once, and then jerk towards Ezio. The thing acted as if it had a mind of it's own.

"The shaft wishes to be re-united with it's brothers." Cynder said quietly, looking down at the wildly vibrating rod. She released it, and it flew instantaneously to hover right behind the blade, leaving a foot and a half gap between the two. The blade suddenly glowed red at the aft, and the two stopped vibrating. Ezio took hold of the shaft. Cynder looked enviously at the assembly, particularly at the blade. Ezio felt the most subtle tug towards her.

"Cynder, or whoever you are, I know what you most want, and because I think it will help bring you back and because I think you can still help us, and finally, because I'm not as cruel as you think I am." Ezio extended the blade forwards, and then tapped it on Cynder's nose. Cynder stared wide eyed as a bright purple strand of energy unlatched itself from the blade and flew to her tail spade, where it curled around the blade. There was a breath of wind, despite the fact that they were at least a mile beneath the surface, and then the spirit or ghost or whatever it was imbued itself into her tail spade.

"In return, I want one of the last two pieces, the haft, the piece of super-strength. Bring it too me, and I promise to free Spyro." he knew she didn't trust him, but he knew that she knew she had no choice. She only nodded tersely, and then turned, lancing into a portal, which nearly stunned Ezio as much as her turning into an enemy.

He took the long way out by finding the handle that activated the lift.

"OK, so let me get this straight, you FOUGHT Cynder?" Kali asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"No, I fought what I think is her bad side coming out, her dark side. Kali, she fought like Cynder does, but that's where the similarities end. She didn't talk like Cynder, she didn't act like Cynder. I think, simple as this, that wasn't Cynder. Think of it like her second personality. It's her evil manifestation of her. That wasn't her." Ezio responded, gazing into the fire, past the grate of the fireplace. The group had returned home, and the first thing Ezio had done was place the lance at the center of the house, and then activate it. The shielding effect had protected them from a lot more than just attacks. Ezio got the feeling the place simply didn't exist, since even normal dragon eyes slid from one house on one side, to the house on the other.

"And you just GAVE Spyro's soul to a complete demon!" Kali said incredulously.

"No, I gave Spyro's soul to something that should keep him safe. As far as I can tell, whatever that thing is, it still has the same goals as Cynder. It's just, unlike Cynder, this evil twin of hers will go through anything to achieve them. She knows we're helping, and thus, she is still aligned with us. However, next time we see her, I fear that she will attempt to either kill me or steal the lance." Ezio said, looking over at the shaft that was jutting straight out of the center of the floor.

"Alright then, so whats next?" Brooklyn asked quietly.

"Well, the tip of the spear was found at the convexity gate. We know that, since it is the spear itself that powers the gate." Ezio said, getting up and grabbing a scroll from the bags in the corner, "Ignitus's maps might have more clues."

He spread the different sheets of parchment across the table in front of them, and marked off their current location, just south and east of the city of Giza.

"We know the convexity gate is off the southern tip of south America, I doubt there is going to be anything there, and we can cross off our current location, as well as Stonehenge. The pieces were scattered 'Far and wide' so we know another piece isn't going to be anywhere close-by." There were concentrations of writings and tips about where the other pieces might be, such as "strange energy reading nearby report of happenings" or "archaeologist discovered suspected piece here". All of the notes were in Ignitus's handwriting.

"Yes, but where else could it be?" Kali said, pouring over the map, Hestia was opposite her, watching intently.

"I think perhaps we should look for ancient structures. Very ancient." She said quietly.

"Close to the beginning of the world, ancient." Kali agreed.

Ezio drew his claw along the course parchment, careful not to scrape it.

"What about the far east?" He said quietly. Kali looked up at him inquisitively, "Well it's got the most hints of an artifact there. And look, Ignitus even suspected what piece was located there."

He tapped a claw on one of the larger notes, spread over china, and pointing towards Beijing.

"Beijing, China? How the heck are we going to find the artifact there?" Kali asked, wrinkling her muzzle in disgust at the work that suddenly lay ahead.

"The same way we found this one." Ezio said, nudging the incomplete spear. It quivered as if it knew what was going on, that it was going to be re-united with one of the other pieces. The lance was prone to strange behavior ever since it was reunited with the blade. Hestia thought the blade itself had a limited consciousness, "We follow the rumors and the concentrations of shadow lieutenants. We leave in two days."

"But Ezio! What about Frost?" Brooklyn said, staring in his general direction.

"I'll ask Blaze to carry Frost for the duration of the journey. Not only is he the strongest, but I don't think he'd mind either." Ezio replied, smiling to himself.

There was a pounding in the stairwell as someone bounded down the steps. Bane entered the room then, smiling.

"Ezio, yur gonna want ta see this lad. We got a great mass o' colored dragons outside, but strangely, they are all bearing the emblem of the Shadow Forces." Ezio leapt up along with Brooklyn and Ion. The group ran to the rooftop, which was now under a high energy shield from the staffs effects. Just as Bane had claimed, there was at least twenty dragons taking up the entire width of the street. Each bore the Shadow Force emblem on their shoulder and wing. Ezio saluted, and the head dragon saluted back. The group on the rooftop glided down together, halting just inside the shield, so the others could not reach them.

"You are the leader of this group." It was no question. The dragon, an Ice one by the looks of him nodded.

"That I am. Major Whiteout, sir. We are the local garrison." Ezio bristled.

"I was under the impression that Malefor used only shadow dragons." Ezio growled.

"Aye, we were shadow dragons, but no more. When you grabbed that piece of lance that protects you now, Malefor flew into a fit. During his rage, I felt a tremor in the force that bound me too the Dark Master, and as such, I seized the advantage. When the entire garrison heard, we all resisted Malefor, and because so many of us did, we were able to free each and every dragon. The ones whom claimed allegiance of their own free will are now dead, and we come to you now to beg your forgiveness and your allegiance, for we wish to end this war and return to our families.

"I must warn you, we are on the losing side."

"Hardly. You have survived this long, mostly intact. It is amazing that Malefor can destroy an entire planet, but he cannot bring a squadron of young dragons too their knees. Malefor's hold is weakening, and we believe his days are numbered. Why else would he be so angered by a stolen ancient relic?" ezio had to admit that he had a point. Bane tugged on his wing.

"How are we going to test the truthfulness of his words?" Bane whispered in his ear.

"I shall handle that." And with one deft movement, he stepped outside the shield. Bane gasped and made to stop him, but Ezio just barely swept his tail outside before Bane could grab it. Whiteout smiled at him, his teeth brilliantly white, and then held his paw out to Ezio, to shake. Ezio smiled back and shook the Ice dragons hand warmly, and then lifted the shield to allow the group in.

"Your news brings warmth to my heart, Whiteout. What news of movements from Malefor's troops do you bring." Ezio asked as the lead the group, Bane fuming, indoors.

"We get a messenger dragon whom relays orders from Malefor to me. Malefor cannot keep open enough portals long enough to communicate with everyone, so he only uses portals to communicate in emergencies. The remaining colored dragons are living in labor camps now. Most are content to simply be out of harms way, out of the wars, but they do not know better. Zeus has been imprisoned for free will, and revolt, after he saw what was happening to his people. He did not stand a chance against Malefor. Most of the resistance died in the fight, and the free creatures hopes have been stamped out." He said, finding the kitchen and settling down, "I also have good news regarding reinforcements. There is a large host of support creatures out in the surrounding valleys, numbering in the two hundred mark. They have their own transportation in the form of some ancient C-47's. Just enough to carry them all."

Ezio nodded, smiling now, "Perhaps if we gain the next piece, we can free even more of our brethren." Whiteout nodded slightly, popping open the ale the mother brought him, "I want to leave a small contingent here until the end of the war, to make sure the family is kept safe. They have done for much, and I would not have their hospitality go unrewarded. And your food and drink shall be paid for in full. I do not doubt that it will feed your entire family for several months."

The human nodded her head, grinning from ear to ear, "I would not have it unless you insisted."

"I do."

"OYE! WHATS ALL THE BLODDY NOISE DOWN THERE!" Blaze roared from the top of the stairs. Ezio swore under his breath and went to the first steps, peering up to the second floor.

"Reinforcements. From the local garrison." Blazes mouth hung open, then he smiled.

"About bloody time. Tell Bane to be nice for once, we don't want to scare them away with excessive swearing."

"I heard that you cu - "

"BANE!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"Blaze, how do you and Frost feel to a trip to Beijing?" Ezio said laughing. Blaze perked up.

"What China? Do I have to lug Frost all over the place? She's gained weight since her injuries."

"Blaze, I'm going to castrate you!" Frost called from the bedroom.

"Unfortunately, you will have t lug her and her baggage around. You know females, always have to bring everything." Ezio said, grinning even more.

"AND you Ezio! Say yes Blaze."

"Yes Blaze, Ma'am!"

"I'm going to freakin' kill you Blaze!" Ezio laughed as the fire guardian ducked a slow moving Ice spike and returned to the room.

Bags packed, good-byes said, hugs given. It all felt rather normal when Ezio left that small town, as if they were all going away on holiday.

And yet, when they all got out of town, faces were grim, and nothing was said unless it needed to be said. They rendezvoused with the support teams in the valley outside the town, the large C-47 transports idling in the sand. Katana rushed about barking orders as a forecasted sandstorm ripped in from the south, making visibility close to nil. Ezio only watched as the young commander rushed about. She wasn't efficient, but she got the job done quick enough, and by early morning, they were ready to go.

"We need to be careful!" Ezio yelled to the Time dragoness over the roaring wind and engines as they prepared to leave, "Not many planes fly the skies right now. That's his territory."

"No it's not, he's just borrowing it! For every cubic foot of air he's stolen, we'll make sure he pays for with his blood! I tire of this underground running Ezio. And now that we have even the slightest edge, I get the feeling that his reign of terror is ending! It's time we pushed home our advantage!" She replied. The first two cargo transports took to the skies with a dull rumble from the twin radial engines, vibrating the air and sand around them.

"If our shadowy friend gets her claws around that last piece, and if there's not an entire legion in Beijing, we might be able to pull this off. We don't have much of a choice, we HAVE to pull it off!"

"ENEMY CONTACTS!" Someone roared from above as shadows raced through the air above them.

"Time to go girl! If you get separated from the group, head east until you see the great wall, then follow it to our rendezvous! I'll cover your retreat!" And with that, Ezio curled his wing claw around the shaft of the lance, and vaulted into the air. He couldn't see a thing, so he flew upwards and burst through the cloud layer, sand streaming in his wake and from his wings, the sun glittering off the many particles of miniature glass. A full flight of six shadow lieutenants were around him, including the mysterious dragon whom had attacked them during Spyro's fall.

"How many times, Ezio, before I finally get to sink my teeth into your flesh?" He roared above the wind and the retreating craft. Three dragons had split off, following the group, and were already engaged with Ion, Kali and Bane, whom were covering the retreat of the others. Ezio could hear Bane laughing, reveling in the fight. But he had little time to dwell on the dilemma that his friends were in. A beam of fear was shot from his nemesis, followed shortly by a broad wave of shadow.

_How on earth was he able to master two elements?_ Ezio didn't care at the moment. The shots were meant to take him down in the first volley, to incapacitate him so that they didn't need to waste time and energy. Ezio barrel rolled around the fear, and miraculously, it struck one of the lieutenants that had snuck up behind him. The shadow attack was easily dissipated with a counter beam of his light. At last, he used gravity to slam into his opponent, drawing him in a full one hundred and eighty degree spin and flung him into the third assailant, letting him get hit by the dragons oncoming shadow attack. The second dragon had recovered form his friends fear attack by now, and was rushing at him. Ezio blocked the first melee strike, dodged the second, and then delivered a full blow on the third, diverting his foes oncoming fist to the chin.

The strange dragon had recovered now, and was rushing at him from beneath, as he had lost altitude after being flung by the purple legendary creature. Ezio dodged and gripped his enemies back, launching himself off the general. And into the third dragon's stomach, propelling them both downwards. Ezio and the creature broke the sandstorm beneath and ten feet from the ground, he let go of the flailing shadow dragon, whom slammed into the ground, unconscious on impact. The general and the second attacked were right behind them. The first, Ezio dodged and the second he was also somehow able to slip by, getting only a grazing blow. However, the second dragon had already thrown a punch after missing the first time, and the two collided in mid fight. The general didn't seem to know whom he was fighting, and slain his comrade in mid-air, with a tail spade across the throat.

Upon seeing his mistake, he wrinkled his nose in disgust, threw the corpse to the ground. Ezio was breathing hard, but he didn't show it, as he was hidden in the twisting weather.

"EZIO!" The dragon screamed, "Old friend! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do! Spyro was Malefor's charge, but you are mine! You swore an oath to Malefor, and you betrayed us! You will pay for your insolence!"

Ezio snarled back at him, making it so that the wind carried his voice all around the dragon, "I swore on my own blood you whelp. I swore when I had no choice! It is no oath unless you mean it. Fealty is not given, it is earned! I swore a much greater oath to someone whom had so much passion that a flea like you couldn't possibly comprehend it! I know not whom you are, but we have met before. If you were enemy in some previous life, I would remember. But then this means you are friend. You swear to kill me? I swear not to do the same to you. But by the time I'm done, you'll wish I had."

And with that, Ezio spat, and turned, flying through the sand till he had put a good one hundred miles behind him, and then broke through the clouds.

His friends were nowhere to be seen. It was still early morning, so Ezio turned towards the sun which was just rising now above the cloud of dust and debris, and warming his face.

"Here we come, Nova."

"He'll be fine Hestia. He's been through much worse." Katana reassured her friend as they flew steadily east, the massive sandstorm beneath them obscuring anything on the ground leading them. They had been navigating by sun all morning.

"I still worry about him. I know first hand a purple dragon has issues with being noticed. I'm not a legit purple dragon, I only control one element, but I still know that alone, a situation can easily get out of hand." She sad, glancing over her shoulder in the direction they had come from, hoping to see a dark magenta speck on the horizon.

The group had flown mostly silently through the day, the groups taking short naps, keeping watch, and running escort, different dragons landing on the aircraft in mid-air.

The quiet was starting to get to the Time Guardian.

"And I hate this endless stretch of a storm. Why hasn't it ended yet?" Hestia growled at the dark swirling mass of particles beneath them.

"It was a big cell that had . We probably won't get out of it till were over the middle east, maybe even not then." Katana barrel rolled over the dragoness slowly, positioning herself in front of the Convexity female, "And calm down. We'll make it."

"I know, but three at once?"

"We'll make it."

Hestia nodded, "This silence is starting to get to me. I don't think I can bear it much longer."

Katana smiled at Hestia then, and then rolled, flying inverted and looked towards Blaze, whom had let Frost rest in the doorway of a nearby C-47.

"Blaze! When was the last time you had a good romp?" Blaze smiled at her.

"Back in that old house, with Frost." Frost turned red, but only smiled. Katana face-pawed.

"Let me rephrase this then. Blaze! Your it! Everyone else! HAVE AT HIM!" The response was immediate, but it was certainly welcomed. Ion and Brooklyn glanced at each other, then smiled, and dove down on top of the Fire Guardian, whom did an emergency combat roll too the left. Hestia laughed.

"Brilliant!" And she dove in after the others, whom were now taking part in the fun as well. Even Frost would occasionally lob a snowball at a passing dragon.

The next couple of days continued like this. For a lot of time they were over the Indian Ocean, their silhouettes reflected back at them by the calm waters, and their eyes straining for their destination on the other side. Finally, Ion's eyes spotted the coast beneath them as they flew during darkness.

"The country of Burma. Our last stop before the peoples republic of china. We want to avoid Myanmar to the north and west pilot, so try to avoid that country. They're going through political unrest right now." The pilot nodded at her, half turning, and then angled a couple degrees too the north.

"The plan was that any of us got separated, we were too meet up in the town of Dunhuang, on the very far western edge of china, and ditch the aircraft there. If Ezio survived, which is likely, he'll be there, or he'll show up. We wait three days, and if he's not there by then, then we'll move onto Beijing."

Two hours later, the non-flying creatures were strapping on parachutes, and the load-masters were shoving small pallets out the back, equipped with large drogue chutes. Frost was shrugging off Blaze by now, whom insisted that he carry her. It had been about three weeks since she had been nearly killed, and she was feeling well rested and finally ready to go back to action.

"Honestly Blaze, I can take care of myself. Now lay off." Blaze shrugged as she dived out of the world war two era aircraft, which was now shuddering with low fumes. Katana was shouting at the pilots.

"How long until the craft run out of fuel?" One pilot shrugged, and his co-pilot spoke up.

"About another hour, half an hour after that before they come down ballistic and slam into the south Russian countryside! The super constellation will probably end up lasting three hours!" He said, backing towards the open door, "But that's not the point. A plane, whilst it'll fly a long time, will actually only stay in the air for about ten minutes before it plummets to the ground!"

"I can't let that happen, you go ahead, I'll keep her in the air till she runs out of fuel then fly back. We can't let these fall into shadow force hands. Go now, I'll keep her goin'!" The pilot saluted her then dove out of the aircraft backwards.

Katana watched as the remainder of her friends flew to the tiny mountain village in the distance. It was actually nestled in among the lower peeks of the Nepal mountains, so the surrounding jagged areas were very rough and untamed. There was a bright flash of white as the moon reflected off of a lake nearby which Katana knew to be Lop Nur, the beginning of the great wall of china. And in the distance she could see the ancient monolith standing tall and proud, a testament to time and mans accomplishments.

She felt proud to be part of one of those accomplishments.

"And when man faces destiny, destiny ends, and man comes into his own."


	4. Chapter 4

"Wa nǐmen kěndìng shì dàle! " The young girl cried up at him as they walked through the dying light of the tiny village.

"What did she say?"

"Dunno."

"She said your big."

"You mean big headed."

"Shut up."

Blaze led the group through the place peering into all the closed shops. Despite there being a war going on, it certainly didn't feel like it, besides the tarnished armor that hung to his muscled frame. The girl kept on going as if they had understood her perfectly fine and they were best friends.

"Wǒ de shèngdà māmā kěnéng huì bèi qì sǐ wǒle, dàn wǒ bùzàihū. Wǒ cónglái méiyǒu jiànguò lóng zhīqián, dàn nǐ yīyàng dà, tāmen shuō nǐ shì! Nǐ suǒyǒu de qìxí huǒzāi, huò zhǐshì nà zuò ma? Wèishéme lánsè de chóuróng, wǒ zài tā de liǎn shàng lùchūle xiàoróng? Wèishéme nǐmen méiyǒu jiǎng zhōngguó ne?"

"What did she say?"

"Do I look like a dictionary to you?"

"No, your mostly a thesaurus Ion."

"Shut up."

"She said a lot of stuff, but the important bit that I got was that we might not get a warm welcome when we meet her grandmother." Hestia was doing the translation. While she wasn't fluent in traditional Chinese, she could get the gist of what the girl was saying.

"Then we best make a good impression. Come here you blather box." And to everyone's great surprise he grabbed the little girl by the tag of her T-shirt and lifted her up and back onto his back, settling her in on top of his armor. The child giggled with glee that she would be so honored as too get a ride from a great warrior.

"Hestia, how do I ask her which way?"

"Nǎ zhǒng fāngshì nǐ jiā? Make sure to pronounce the vowels well."

"Nǎ zhǒng fāngshì nǐ jiā?" The girl giggled and pointed down a side street.

The town, while tiny, had plenty of settlers. It was nestled in the foothills of the Nepal mountains, and all the buildings were of traditional look and build, though some settlers had taken advantage of the little towns charm and had built more modern structures near the center of town. Now however, Blaze felt as if he was a samurai coming back from a raid in the nearby mountains, full of honor, and courage.

Too be honest, the little town reminded him of home.

"Huang! Nǐ zuòle shénme zhè duàn shíjiān? Shuí shì zhèxiē rén? Nǐ kěyǐ gàosu wǒ, nǐ dài péngyǒu huí jiā!" The grandmother screeched as her granddaughter approached the house. She had her back turned, so when she spun around to reprimand her child, she stopped cold.

"Tōngguò wǒ de zǔxiān." She said under her breath.

"What."

"By my ancestors. The young girls name is Akira."

"Can you translate for me Hestia?"

"Course. Just say it and I'll relay as best I can."

"We do not mean you or any of your family harm. We seek shelter and a place too stay. We were separated from our commanders, and must wait for them. We should be out in three days."

"Wǒmen bìng bù yìwèizhe nǐ huò nǐ de jiārén shānghài. Wǒmen xúnqiú bìhù dì dìfāng tài duō tíngliú. Wǒmen fēnkāile, cóng wǒmen de zhǐhuī guān, bìxū děngdài tāmen. Wǒmen yīng zài sān tiān nèi." Hestia intoned. The child held her grandmothers arm and peered up at her. The elderly female seemed almost too stunned too speak.

"Tāmen láizì tiānkōng de hóngwěi māmā!" Hestia chuckled at that.

"Wǒ cónglái méiyǒu xiǎngguò huì kàn dào yītiān. Nín kěnéng huì liú zhǐyào nǐ xiǎng. Wǒ pà wǒ méiyǒu shíwù wèi nǐ de suǒyǒu suīrán." The grandmother replied. Her knees were shaking by now.

"Zhè shì hěn hǎo de, wǒmen yīngdāng cóng tā zhōuwéi de qún shān míngtiān shòuliè wǒmen zìjǐ de shíwù." Hestia said crossing the thresh-hold.

"Well Hes? We good?"

"We're fine Blaze, but we're hunting our own food tomorrow in the mountains." Just as Brooklyn got there though, the old ladies eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she dropped towards the floor. The old earth dragon was able too catch her just in time, and Ion busted out laughing at the look on his face.

"Help!" the electric dragon was able to stop enough too help his older friend out, and he grabbed the womens shirt in his jaws gently, and pulled her over too a recliner too set her in.

"Is she all right?" Blaze asked, glancing at Frost. Frost took one full look at her then nodded. She was tired from her injury and her flight down, but Blaze was impressed she had made it. The child had been shocked at her grandmothers episode at first, but quickly got over it, as the dragons found spots too settle down into for the night. She ran over too Blaze as he laid down on his side, and snuggled in under his chin.

The Fire dragon was surprised at first, but let it slide as she dozed peacefully. Frost smiled at him.

"All big and tough half the time, and a wise ass the other half, but there's a big softy under there, isn't there?"

"Ah hush."

* * *

><p>The day after found Blaze crouched in the undergrowth of the forest outside the village, Frost next too him, hunting a large Yak. They were so common around the mountain range that most were wild. The dragons were bunking with the family, and so Blaze had decided that while they were there, they would pull their share, even if the Grandmother hadn't wanted that. He hadn't complained when she had pulled out all the stops for dinner last night, but the group had nearly cleaned the family out in a single night.<p>

It had been three days now, and none of them had seen any signs of either Ezio or Katana. Hestia was extremely worried now, but she had agreed too help. Blaze had sent her out on combat air patrols too keep her mind off of current events.

The locals simply called these mountains hills. He supposed that if you lived in the same mountain range as mount Everest, the area would feel like hill sides. Blaze had seen the monster piece of land from the air. He had marveled at it's height until the little girl had laughed at him, saying that from this distance, you only see half of it, the rest being buried beneath the horizon. Blaze had made a mental note too see the mountain up close sometime before he died.

A small twig snapped beneath his big toe then, and before the animal even had time too look their way, Frost shot the ice spike she had held in her claws at the rhino, driving it through it's head and dropping it instantly. The rest of the herd looked up at them, and backed away nervously as they emerged from their cover.

"Smooth one hot-head. Your not much of a hunter killer type are you?" Frost said, shaking her head at him.

"Psh, you know if I had my way, it'd already be cooked. You just don't like your meat well done." Blaze shot back.

"Blaze, you don't cook. You take your firebreath, with a variable amount of heat, and roast your prey like a marshmallow. It always ends up disturbing too eat." She replied, breathing her frost breath on the carcase too flash-freeze it and preserve the meat. Blaze grabbed the legs and heaved the animal onto his back. The thing must have weighed nearly a ton, but Blaze could lift it. He just didn't think he could fly with it.

"Hush. You fly, I'll run." Frost nodded and leaped into the air, hovering just above the tree canopy. Blaze took off, weaving his way through the trees with a surprising amount of skill despite his bulk.

It took them ten minutes of running before anything of interest happened, Blaze was admiring Frost's slim body from slightly behind her, and yet had a sneaking suspicion that she knew, cause she kept on showing off slightly. He almost ran into the camp when he heard the voices. He slid too a stop about five feet from the edge of the clearing, and when he took a look at the inhabitants, he was gad this jungle was so loud with rain at the moment, otherwise, the around fifteen shadow force lieutenants twenty feet away would have heard him. Overhead, Frost backpedaled with her wings hard, nearly stalling and falling out of the sky. She pulled as tight of an Immelman turn as she could and bolted in the other direction. The task force in front of him seemed not too notice her, probably cause of her light blue color.

Blaze set the rhino down in the shadows, making a soft thump, and then crouched down next too the carcass. Cringing his nose at the smell. And listened too the conversation.

"Ugh, why do the higher ups want us here? There's gotta be forty task forces in this god forsaken country by now, and yet, besides the aircraft we've found, as well as that ruddy female, we've seen hide nor hair of them. Couldn't delta do these patrols?" One of the larger ones growled from the far side.

"You know that they couldn't. We're in the upper tier, so why complain, this is what were good at. Besides, Malefor does take some pride in us, which is why he sent us. Remember our creed?" A smaller one with a general insignia said close by.

"We are the shadow force." The one next too him intoned.

"We hunt from the darkness." The large one replied.

"We bring fear too the courageous." An average one with a Majors insignia intoned, while surveying the trees.

"We bring despair too the hopeful." A smaller one standing almost next too Blaze shouted out.

"And in glorious night, we will cast the lands under Lord Malefor's iron rule." The rest nearly roared towards the sky.

Blaze nearly jumped when Frost hissed next too him, "Arrogant bastards. The general is mine. I'll give you a signal when I'm ready. Follow them when they come after me."

Blaze was about too grab her tail and pin her down when she slipped through his claws and off into the darkness of the surrounding forest. He swore too himself and then watched the group intently.

About five minutes later, the group was about too move on, when a large ice spike screamed out of the trees and into the generals chest, dropping him where he stood. The clearing went nuts then, some of the more experienced scattered, but the younger lesser dragons clumped together, their backs too each other.

That was all Blaze needed. A single superheated plasma spike lanced into one of the shadows heads, killing him, and then exploded, sending black bodies flying. One of the majors had spotted him by then, and was advancing when a hail of clustered ice shards came from his right, plowing into the dragon like shrapnel.

Blaze knew the others were on him then in the next couple of seconds as a stream of shadow flame enveloped him. Covering him in darkness and he felt confusion and pain become his dominating feelings. He knew what it was like, because of his sparing sessions with Eclipse so long ago. He still didn't like it anymore. He breathed flame in the general direction of where he knew it was coming, and despite the pain spreading down his body, he kept up the stream. The disorientation lessened, and finally was dragged off, the pain fading away slowly. He felt a cold paw smacking the side of his face lightly.

"Blaze! You alright Blaze? Come back too me baby!" Blaze grabbed her paw first, before responding. He turned over and half vomited, half spit out a huge chunk of blood. He knew he had bit his tongue.

"Blaze, how are you feeling? Don't lose me blaze, stay with me!"

"I'm fine Frost." He said. He knew he didn't sound as fine as he felt.

"Are you SURE your alright?"

"Why do you keep asking? I'm talking too you." He went too wipe the sweat off his forehead, but felt raw hard skin. Cauterized. It hurt too even touch it. He ran his claw gently along it until he felt the edge.

"You took three shadow flames at once. I'm amazed you emerged with just surface wounds. Your sure alright?" She said, and Blaze could now tell she was genuinely worried.

"I probably look a lot worse than I feel. It was a closer call than I guessed I suppose." Frost backed off, and helped her mate up off the ground, and then drove herself into his chest, rubbing up under his chin.

"Do me a favor. Don't ever scare me like that again." Frost said weakly. She was shivering slightly.

"Frost, you sound worse than I do." Blaze said chuckling. He was still tracing the burn wound, and found it was all over his front right side. He must have turned at the last minute, cause it felt more like a blast wound than a burn wound. Those lieutenants had put some power behind their breath.

"Oye, bastards! I'm still here!" Blaze started suddenly at hearing the harsh voice. He turned too find a fresh lieutenant, whom looked as green as could be, frozen in place, just enough mouth left open too talk, but not enough too breath.

"Shut up, rookie." Frost said turning too him, "Your lucky we even left you alive. Now I want information. That 'Ruddy female' you mentioned, what does she look like? Where is she?"

"I'll not give you information wretch! Kill me for all I care!"

"I won't kill you." Blaze said quietly, "I've got something much worse." He grabbed a nearby stone with his wing claw, and then breathed over it till it grew glowing hot.

"It hurts, this technic, but I've seen it used during the last war. Very effective. It doesn't even kill you, but man, you'll be breathing through a tube when it's done going through. It's just below melting point, see?" Blaze squeezed hard, and the stone squished beneath his claws like a grape, the cooler sections splintering, and the hot core squishing.

"The hot core melts the outside actually, so it gets hotter as it goes further in, and it solidifies somewhere in your lungs. Oh you'll be able too breath, but not without extreme pain. Every second of the rest of your life will be agony."

The dragon clamped his mouth shut then. Blaze nodded at Frost, and she produced a long thin rod of ice, shoving it in between his jaws, and working them open. Blaze trust the stone forwards, and shoved it deep, his claws dropping it at the last second in the back of the throat. The dragon couldn't breath and so couldn't use his element. He held his breath and tried not too swallow even though his eyes watered, and he grunted and groaned. Blaze stroked his neck gently, and at last was rewarded with a gentle swallow, and saw the stone go down.

"Oh god, yousonofabitch!" There was grunting and growling after that, but no words, because the stone was sliding past his vocal cords. Blaze knew Frost was keeping the stone at a steady temperature, so not too cause permanent damage.

"Now then, my female friend here can cool that down in a second, and release you from the pain." The dragon was shivering now, "You just gotta answer my two questions."

He tried for thirty seconds too resist, but eventually, he gave in.

"She's in Beijing, with the piece that you seek. She is white and grey. Bitch took down six generals before we were able too subdue her. She's lucky Malefor doesn't want her dead, otherwise we would have killed her with a lot less casualties." Blaze nodded, and Frost ran her claw along the dragons throat. He shuddered violently once more, and then went still.

"Geeze, you didn't kill him did you?" Blaze said, feeling his neck for a pulse.

"Na, just sent him into a sleep. Slowed his blood stream with an extreme shock of cold." Blaze smiled at her.

"Did I ever tell you how much I'm glad you're on our side?"

* * *

><p>"Damnit, were in for a rough ride. Ezio MIA. Katana POW. Spyro and Nova are basically KIA. Cynder has extreme Post-Traumatic stress." Ion counted them off on his claws, "And the rest of our forces are scattered over the countryside with no way of knowing whether they're dead or alive. Out of all of us, your probably the most powerful Hestia. And if that bastard in the back yard is willing too mention the last piece we need, I'll bet it's well guarded."<p>

"There's always a way too get inside. No matter how much protection." Blaze said. He had ice packs made of frozen river-water and gaze all over him, covering the wounds, and numbing the pain. The trip home had been torture, having too carry a rhino on his back, and Frost carrying the captive. It had taken them most of the day.

"Yeah, there's always a way, but what if the way is sheer brute force?" Ion said. Brooklyn pushed him gently.

"Quiet, son. Things could be a lot worse." Ion gapped at him.

"How could things be worse!"

"You could be dead." Frost snapped at him. Ion again gapped.

"You could have burn wounds down your right side." Blaze mentioned.

"Your family could be running for their lives through the hills." Brooklyn muttered, looking away.

"Your brother could be in forced hard labor." Hestia said, nearly snarling.

"Ion, your young, so I'll forgive you for that ignorant remark. But this is war. Things can always get worse." Frost nodded at his statement in agreement.

"But from my experience, if things look bad, you'll either die, which in that point nothing really matters, or things can only go up." Brooklyn said, his voice growing strong again.

"Right, so long as you see the light of another day, you know you can live on. Be thankful for it young one." Ion clamped his mouth shut and nodded.

"And Ion?" Blaze said. The electric dragon raised his eyebrows, "You need too learn too keep your mouth shut."

Even Ion laughed then.

* * *

><p>The ngiht air was cold, but Ezio welcomed it, as it kept him awake. He had pushed himself harder than he had ever done before, flying for a solid three days without sleep. His wing joints ached like they were about too fall off with the strain, but the results laid out before him were rewarding.<p>

He was standing on a steep rise, the wind flowing over his back and cooling his aching shoulders, and ruffling his hair up. Below him lay a flowing blanket of lights and sounds, towering structures and smaller neighborhoods which he would have called metropolis's back home. Small communist homes were everywhere.

He had known Beijing would be big. But the size still staggered him. There was enough lights that it was simply blinding. He turned left, and walked along the portion of the great wall which he was using too survey the city, and look for any concentrations of shadow forces. He also helped the homeless the sick and the elderly and the infirm among which he walked now. China was a communist country until Malefor had usurped the leader, and put his own dictator in charge. The man or beast, whichever he was was very vague. Most of the citizens didn't even know his name, only that he ruled with an iron fist, and allowed many more government controlled activities than normal, such as the opium and drug trade, which had flourished, as well as a massive weapons trade. Apparently those two trades didn't mix very well, and innocent bystanders were being cut down in huge swaths. From what he learned, the tourist trade had shut down, and people had simply moved too the great wall because it was strong and secure.

Ezio had a reckoning with these thugs, and he had a feeling he knew whom was running the country now. He had also seen a group haul in a white dragon, whom he would recognize from halfway around the world.

"Good luck Katana. Knowing you, you'll pull something out of your hat that will amaze us all." The local garrison looked as if they were stationed inside the old imperial palace. The place also looked like a fortress, and there was a 24/7 guard on duty. This wasn't going too be easy.

He lunged off the ramparts and towards the city, intending too find an ally among that maze of lights.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on guys, we don't want to be stuck here till mid-day, get up." Blaze said loudly into the living room, munching on some home-made bacon. He heard a groan, and nothing else, so turned deftly, opened his muzzle and roared. He heard a flock of birds take flight outside, as half the squad jumped to their feet.

"That's more like it." He said smiling, returning to the kitchen, "If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were all dead."

"Blaze, you dumba - " The fire dragon hushed her quickly as the little girl peeked around his hind leg, looking curiously into the room. Frost grit her teeth and growled at him. Brooklyn still hadn't opened his eyes, but he groaned at the group.

"With all due respect Blaze, couldn't you let an old warrior rest?" He said, finally raising his head, "Actually, I vote we stay here another few days. Never know if Ezio could find us."

"And miss all the action? Come on guys, wheres your sense of adventure?" Frost face-pawed, but smiled all the same. Ion was already running about, shouting something about how he couldn't find his helmet, despite the fact that they had all polished their armor just last night. Hestia shoved past him and walked into the kitchen, mumbling something about coffee.

"We need to get moving guys. Yesterdays encounter will have alerted one of them, and we don't want to be here when they come looking for us. We need to lead them away from the village, towards Beijing." Blaze had an itchy burning feeling in his gut that they should have been going a lot sooner.

"In good time my dear Blaze." Hestia mumbled from her mug that the grandmother had given her.

"Nǐ yào qù dì dìfāng lóng? Nǐ huì huílái ma?" The child was intoning more Chinese up at him.

"What?"

"She asked you if your coming back." Hestia murmured, still half drunk on sleep, "Which probably not, so, 'Wǒ hěn bàoqiàn niánqīng rén. Wǒ huì yǒngyuǎn jìde nǐ, suīrán.'"

"That's a bit long for a simple no."

"That's cause it isn't just no, Kali. Unlike some particular former shadow force generals, I have compassion." Kali snarled at her violently.

"Wretch! I was coerced into fighting for the lack-honor Malefor, and you know it! I have no less compassion than any dragon or dragoness here, take your pick. And you know it!" The female said, jumping to her feet.

"Then why have you yet to show it? It always seems that danger follows you where ever you go, no matter how hard we try to hide. I've heard of the pull of Malefor's power. The dragon himself has no hold on it, and Cynder is proof that it's not him that consumes people, but his power." Kali's shadow power was already burning into the carpet, leaving dark marks. She went to fire off a retort, but Blaze stopped them both.

"ENOUGH you two. Hestia, Kali acquitted herself grandly when she helped to free Ezio from Malefor's pull. If you cannot trust her, then you cannot trust him. And Kali? She's just cranky cause she just woke up..."

The flight to Beijing was long, but good, as it got warmer, they finally had a decent amount of rest, but when they got there, everyone sorta just stopped.

Beijing sprawled before them, with the great wall in the background, the sun shining off the rocks, and in the center, what held everyone's gaze was the massive palace. The forbidden city.

"What do any of you make out?" Blaze asked quietly.

"I sense weapon fortifications along the ramparts." Brooklyn said, his earth element already stretching out and sensing the metal in the cannons, "Tanks and fifty caliber machine guns. Mostly defensive."

"If my previous experiences are correct, and they normally are, they'll have a large amount of shadow lieutenants in there, around 200." Kali replied, "And likely a direct link to Malefor. What else would you expect when they have the last piece?"

The captive dragon had told them about that. They had released him into the forest around the village just after they left. Allowing him to walk two hundred paces with a blindfold on, and then disappearing after he had taken only thirty.

"Suggestions?" The group was quiet, and after a while standing at the top of the ridge they were on, Blaze sighed, and moved down towards the city, "Lets find somewhere to stay then."

It didn't take them long. The outskirts were somewhat dilapidated, and there were large buildings which had been converted into refuge centers. They settled into the corner of one, trying to draw as little attention as possible.

"We can't stay her for long, we either need to find a local to bunk with, or rent a room." Frost nodded her agreement, "So you've had time to think about it. What do any of you have in mind?"

Again, silence. Brooklyn stared around at the different creatures, thinking and not seeing. Ion fidgeted to no end, but was also obviously deep in though, as he kept on shaking his head. Hestia, as always anymore looked highly disturbed. Kali was the first to speak.

"Well, we can't just go up and ask for it." ,Frost chuckled, but Blaze held up a claw.

"Why not?" There was ringing silence from that.

"Cause they outnumber us at about 40 to one?" Kali said, "Fighting our way through would be suicide."

"So we think about this strategically." Blaze said, rebuffing her. She only rolled her eyes, "Brooklyn, if you could get close enough, how many point defense cannons and tanks could you disable?"

"All of them. I could even trap their occupants inside by fusing the metal together on the tanks." Blaze nodded and smiled.

"Perfect. Ion, we'll need an area of effect short range EMP burst, to dismantle any com equipment." Ion smiled than, and gathered a very threatening ball of energy in his hand, toying with it.

"They won't know what hit them."

"What about the front gate?" Kali said, raising an eyebrow.

"Frost will have to breath supercooled air on it, and I'll follow up with some extreme heat. The difference should shatter it." Frost nodded again, also smiling now, "Kali, I need you to find the generals in the group and confuse them, make them think we're much bigger than what we really are, and have them attack their own. Can you do that?"

"On several targets at a time." she said, cracking her neck and giving herself up-to fate finally.

"And what about me?" Hestia asked quietly.

"Stay close to me, I'll need your firepower." Blaze said, rubbing his chin, "What do you think Kali? Bold enough?"

"That's to be seen."

It was a cold morning. Colder than most. The group moved through the streets on muffled wraps, careful not to disturb any of the garbage bins around them as they crept up an alley towards the looming oriental castle. They had spent the night at the refuge shelter in their corner, Ion and Brooklyn warding off any curious eyes with their presence.

When they were a couple streets over, Brooklyn brought a paw down onto the pavement, and dug his claws into the surface, bright green tendrils streaking away. At the same time, Ion let off a low frequency electromagnetic pulse, which disabled all of the electronics in a thirty mile radius.

"Alright, all systems disabled, move in at your discretion sir." Brooklyn murmured to Blaze next to him. Frost reached into her pack then, and handed out small packages.

"Be gentle, it's an experiment me and blaze are using. Blazes plasma setup, much like thermite, and a cluster of Ice. High impact from throwing it will set the thermite off, and it'll explode." The group moved off in different directions, Blaze and Frost sticking together.

As Blaze and Frost moved towards the wall, the fire dragon concentrated on the ramparts, hoping to the Ancient that no one would spot them. All went well as the mated pair dived under the overhang. Blaze could see old murder holes in the plaster and concrete above, used for pouring molten oil down on enemies at the base of the towering structure. He could hear large shouts, but no alarm had been sounded yet.

Frost opened her maw and spewed super-cold water onto the face of the metal door as they grew close, and shortly after, when it was covered in ice, blaze drew up a plasma lance, and drove it through the plate of ice. He exploded it shortly after-wards, and the metal shattered in it's frame, as if it were made of glass.

The pair tossed both packs of thermite in, and were rewarded by explosions. Four others were heard in the distance, and the pair dived inside and started fighting.

An alarm had still not been raised, and there were few enemies here. Blaze thought it might have been a small guard force. As instructed, no one but Kali used their elements, instead ripping through in hand to hand combat.

Finally, when the dust had settled, and the enemies were dead, including the ones that had ran, the group gathered. The imperial city was big, and blaze had done some research on it. The average length of the walls were eight miles long, and it covered over 26 miles in length. And he barracks, he knew, were located inside the central palace, over ten miles away, through a group of homes and gardens.

The group moved silently now, not talking at all, only using body and paw signals. Suddenly, an air raid siren went off, and lights started appearing all over the place.

"Alarm!" Ion said, breaking out into a sprint. Blaze got in front and led the charge, his large body and long stride causing him to streak over the ground like a blur of fire.

"We need to get to the central city before they have time to call in reinforcements." The dash grew headlong after that, and in the span of two minutes they were in firing range. Blaze lit up the ground, lighting dry grass and starting a large brush fire in an instant as he streak towards the citadel. A group of orcs dashed out from a side area, but Frost quickly dispatched them, using a sheet of Ice on the ground to send them sliding into a burning house.

The massive fields quickly caught, and were soon a turning swarm of flames. Blaze led them through the inferno that was his creation to the base of the castle, and felt the metal. Cool to the touch.

"It's titanium Blaze, we won't be able to blast through it like the last one!" Frost said of the roar of the fire.

Blaze looked lost now, like he was fighting his own element. Yes, he was resistant to heat. But he wasn't fireproof. He peered around desperately, looking through the flames for a way out. He felt the door, and it was growing hot.

"Then we wait!" He said, and walked ten paces from the door, then sat.

"What?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Blaze, whats going on? The fire is getting closer!"

"Enough! Do you trust me!" He looked around at them all, "Do you trust me, all of you?"

Frost approached him first, and looked into his eyes.

"With my life, to the very end of time, I trust you with every fiber of my being." He looked around at the others. Brooklyn saluted, as did Ion. Kali shouted something over the fire that sounded like "I'd take a bullet for you." and even Hestia, whom looked as if she was having a hard time, nodded an affirmative.

"Then buckle in! It'll be a wild ride! Ion, Brooklyn, when the gates go down, I need you to get to the brig as soon as possible, and get Katana out of there, we need her help! I'll try and keep up! Me, Hestia, Kali, and Frost will cover you!" the doors were glowing red hot now, with the fire around them. Blaze knew it was now or never.

"Brooklyn, with me! Ion, put your power into it! And Frost!" she turned to him, fear in her eyes, "I need your help, my dear."

As four, they raised their paws, energy building up, and fired at the door. The elements warped and turned, fire combining with earth to create a sort of plasma, ice and electricity collided to create supercharged and frozen particles, and the groups charged into one another, breaking down physics, and slamming into the door as a combined convexity beam.

The door didn't just shatter, it disintegrated...

The inferno flew backwards from the sudden out-draft, and Alpha squad poured in, firing in all directions. Brooklyn mowed down four enemies with a slab of earth pulled from the wall, Ion calling down lightening bolts from on high, and smiting enemies were they stood, as if he were Zeus himself.

The two got caught up in the fighting so Blaze simply saluted Brooklyn, and took his place, charging towards a door. The two followed, as the alarm truly started to rouse the entire compound. It felt almost as if the weight of the building was pressing in upon him.

And then Blaze felt the ground drop out beneath him as his foot fell into a well, tumbling down a flight of stairs, half fighting, half falling. There was a door to the right, and he scrambled to his feet, and darted through it, pulling Frost with him, whom staggered in, a large gash on her forehead, but otherwise fine. They darted down the hallway, and made a turn as soon as possible. Blaze turned into a room to his left, and drove the door closed, slamming himself around into the wall, and peering back out. There was a sound of splintering, and then footfalls as the group behind them searched.

"They can't have gone far! Spread out! Shoot to kill!" Blaze heard someone approach. Luckily, the room was dark. One of the dragons looked inside.

"Sir, this ones dark!"

"Well go on, search around!"

"I ain't going in there!"

Frost nearly snorted, but Blaze shot her a fervent look. The dragon felt around just inside the door, but there was no switch.

"Alright then, stand guard. I'll have a detachment sent along to search around inside."

Then all was silent. Blaze crouched low to the floor, and peered around the corner, then withdrew quickly. He motioned to Frost, holding up four claws. Four lethal enemies. Frost nodded and crouched, getting ready to fight. She tensed to pounce and...

"You six! What are you doing here? Don't you know there is an infidel attack outside! Move you cowardly lackeys, before I report you to lord Malefor himself!"

"Yes Ma'am!" There was a general rush of paw pads, and then all was silent.

"Blaze! Frost! It's Kali!" Blaze exhaled the breath he knew he had been holding, but hadn't dared let out.

"Good, we need to keep moving in and down, get to Katana. Wheres the others?"

"I don't know, we got separated in the courtyard. I know there's a large contention at all the exits, preventing us from getting out. It'll be a hell of a fight. And your fire still rages Blaze, inside and outside the walls." There was sudden running at the other end of the hall. The trio turned, ready for a fight, but the duo of shadow dragons didn't even look down the hallway, but just kept running.

"Don't use each others names, and we should be fine. Hallways won't be much of an issue because of how much visibility they block. And Kali? Thanks."

"No problem."

"Now lets get to the brig before they figure out where we are." Blaze said, turning down a random hallway, "Any idea where to go?"

"The place has to have some sort of holding chamber, it was built during what, the 1200's? Should be in the foundation of the building."

"Well I know one way to get there quickly." Blaze turned his face downwards and breathed a white hot torrent of flames upon the ground, and the stone beneath immediately began to glow red hot. The females shielded themselves with their wings against the heat, and soon, a shallow bowl was formed in the floor. The fire dragon leaped down, his side scrapping the edge of the hole, and taking off some molten slag. He brushed it off when he landed, as if it were a bit of soot.

"It's not that hot guys." Frost put ice around the edges anyways.

This floor felt much less corporate, and much more medieval. The walls were made of smooth stone bricks, unpainted, and the floor was made up of cut and shaped stone, of a darker coloration, and filled in with hard clay.

"We seemed to have moved back several centuries. This is more what were looking for." Kali said, running her claws along the rock facing, "Larger structures like these at least had some sort of fireproofing.

"The prison should be close by, we need to get to it fast before they move Katana." Blaze ran down the corridor, the two females in his wake. They rounded a corner and -

"Son of a BIT - " Frost's words were cut off as she ran headlong into the group of ten generals. There was little time to turn and run, so the adjusted on the fly, and began fighting. There was a loud rush, and then silence, and the four dragons, one the white form of Katana, stood amongst the smoldering, cracking darkened battle area, all the generals dead.

"Holy crap Katana, thanks for the help! It's good to see you!" The female smiled at Blaze as they turned and started running back, "How are you, they didn't hurt you did they?"

"They were always to slow for that. They never could figure that out, how I moved so fast." Frost was quiet for a while, but finally, she spoke up.

"Well I'm glad you didn't get hurt like I did down there. Now do you know where the next piece is?" Katana stopped instantly, and pulled from under her natural armor, a long metal item which had threading on both ends. There was a rubberized material that covered a grip the fit perfectly into her fingers. It glowed blue at one end, and shifted to red at the other.

"And check this out!" She said laughing at the looks of the others. She winked, and then she faded from view, leaving nothing but the walls and dark hallway behind her.

"Katana?" She reappeared behind Blaze, and whispered into his ear.

"Boo." Blaze jumped what must have been six feet in the air, spinning and grabbing wildly with his claws. Both Frost and Katana rolled on the floor, laughing.

"Not funny. Come on guys, we need to find Brooklyn, Ion, and Hestia." Katana was still wiping tears from her eyes. She gave Frost a funny look about Blaze's behavior, but the dragoness just rolled her eyes and shrugged.

The quartet jumped through the hole, Blaze leading the way. Frost and Kali jumped up after-wards, and Katana was last to go.

However, there would be an entire flight of shadow force dragons waiting for them. Ion, Brooklyn, and Hestia were among them, being held at spade-point by a trio of lieutenants each. A Field Marshall clad in golden armor was at the front of the group, his face fixed in a snarl.

"You four! Move, or in your case disappear, and we kill these three. Grab them, lord Malefor wishes to speak to them personally. Now take them to the courtyard for portal-warp! Come on gents and ladies, snap to!"

Ion leaned over to one of his captors, "Is he always this rude and pushy? And whats with the snarl?"

The lieutenant smiled, and whispered back, low enough that the Marshall couldn't hear, "Na, that's just always on his mug all the time. And yes, he is that much of a bastard all the time. Hand picked by Malefor, and that golden armor is custom made by the dark lord himself from the minerals on Titan."

Brooklyn smiled to himself. He had been making friends with the enemy ever since they had been captured. Smart move since it was almost certain they were going to the chopping block now.

"Well well well. The mighty Blaze of Volcanus. A brave and bold attempt son, but we far outnumber you." The Marshall said. Blaze scowled back.

"Numbers do not win a battle."

"That's utterly preposterous, and you know it. There is a breaking point of every soldier that you can easily overcome with numbers. Now, come." The Marshall turned and led them out to the courtyard, where a bright magenta portal was glowing, large enough for a SUV to pass through, and certainly large enough for a dragon to get through.

"He will contact us when he's ready for transport. Blaze. I have always been an admirer. Some of your combat tactics are nearly impossible to replicate, and I've always been amazed how you can shrug your way through combat with sheer brute force." He eyed the burn scars on the fire dragons side, "Ah, and the mighty Frost. I had heard about your feats of escaping Dante's freezer before the mighty conflagration. It was very powerful and – unique."

"Whats the story behind that, mom?" Kali asked, leaning in close. Frost leaned in closer, and whispered next to her horn, and Kali's jaw dropped.

"But now you will all know true power!" Lord Malefor awaits." He lifted his paw, offering the chance for Blaze to move forwards. Blaze moved out in front, and walked with confidence to his inevitable doom.

And then the portal shimmered, and then completely dissipated. And Ezio stood in it's place. He grabbed behind them, and pulled out the staff. The fore-gripped shook violently, and snapped out of place in the Marshall's paw, and then jumped into it's place, joining instantly with the blade and the shaft. The entire set glowed a bright white, blinding everyone. When the light died down, Ezio held the completed staff in his claws, the entire thing emitting a soft golden glow.

A soft breeze rustled the purple dragons hair as he stared down the Marshall. Spinning the blade swiftly, he drove it into the ground.

"Behold the power of the Ancient One."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ezio!" Katana relaxed slightly, as the purple dragon stared down the Marshall. Several dragons turned and took off, running as fast as they could. Others took cover. A small spherical orb formed around the lance, expanding slowly. It passed over Katana and the others harmlessly, but when it hit the field Marshall, it forced him backwards, ever so slowly, finally stopping too encompass all of the allies. At last, there was a massive shockwave, spreading out from the staff, it knocked the entire legion back, and punched out most of the windows, knocking most of the enemies unconscious.

"Come on guys, lets get out of here." The Marshall was clawing at the shield, but too no avail. The bunch turned and walked peacefully out of the compound, never once being challenged.

"We might actually stand a chance with this thing complete." Katana said, picking up the completed piece, "How'd you get the haft from Cynder?"

"You'll see."

"You two gave us a scare when you didn't show up." Hestia said, drawing abreast of the pair, "I thought our greatest chances of winning were suddenly gone."

"Even if they were, stone-brain and hot-head here wouldn't have stopped fighting." Frost said, punching Brooklyn, and then nuzzling up under Blaze's chin, "And Ion probably would have annoyed Malefor with his incessant tongue so much that Malefor would have ordered him killed anyways."

"Oh hush Frost. You flaunt your grandfathers arrogance a bit more than you should." The lightning guardian shot back.

"Enough, both of you." Blaze shot them both down as Frost opened her mouth too retort. Ezio shot him an odd glance, but shrugged, and continued out of the ancient city, taking off once they were outside.

When the group took too the air, Katana saw more shadow forces, although no one paid them any attention. She had the sneaking suspicion that Ezio was holding a cloak around them.

Ezio lead them past the outskirts, past their previous sleeping spot, all the way too the great wall of china. Here there was nothing but slums, gangs roamed the rows of tents and hovels. Stray dogs ran the streets, trying too beg meat off the inhabitants, there was a stench in the air. And it wasn't just humans ether. A pack of cheetah cubs, their fur matted and stained ran past, the lead trying too keep a ball away from the others. A group of old moles argued over who would get the largest portion of a rat they had captured. Some young drakes soared overhead, fighting with each other, as a group along the wall cheered them on.

"Come on, we don't want too stay in one place for forever. This is gang territory."

"Is this what the war has wrought?" Frost asked, her jaw slightly open.

"This is what we have wrought. Or at least what I have. Where did you think the families went after Tokyo was destroyed? They have no money, no place too call home, and China almost laughs in their face, especially after Malefor took control. You don't think a communist-socialist society would care about the poor, do you?" Ezio rep[lied from the head of the pack. There was no longer a forcefield, so he was eying a pack of teenage dragons whom were hiding in the shadows, leering back. One of them, a large earth dragon, smiled at Frost.

"Come on cold-skin, leave that hot-head, and I'll show you a much better time." Blaze went too retort, but Frost stopped him. She approached the dragon, hips swaying slightly, and rubbed her chest against the stone-head.

"You know big boy, I've ripped a shadow lieutenants manhood off for saying less than that too me." So intent was he on her eyes, that he didn't notice her paw grab his wing. In the next few seconds, he found himself pinned on the ground, and his wing folded at an extreme angle.

"AAAAAAHH. GET OFF ME, YOU CRAZY BITCH!"

"Don't make me bend it further. A bit more pressure and it'll break. Now you've just been rude too a lady, what do you say?"

"GET OFF, YOUR GOING TOO BREAK IT!"

"I just might! What do you say!"

"I'M SORRY DAMNIT!" There was a loud pop, as the wing came out of the socket.

"Damn right you are!" Frost hit the ball of the wing gently, and it popped back in. She got off the dragon, whom immediately rolled to his feet.

"Lets show this bitch what for! Dé léi kè prepare your powers!" Frost just stood there, staring at them. As one, the three raised their paws, and their powers charged, earth, electricity, and ice brought too bear. Frost just smiled at them, and then looked over her shoulder.

"Blaze? Ever seen a game of human golf? What would you say the par is?" Blaze grinned at her.

"I'd say three hits." He motioned back at the dragons, "But I'll bet your going too do them in in two."

"I'd bet on one."

"Three holes in one hit?"

"Aye, three asses in the hole." She turned and in one fluid motion, lunged, her wing jutted forwards, an struck all three under the chin, "Lesson number one of combat gents, never group together unless needed. Surround your opponent, they'll likely not see where your coming from."

The lead earth dragon got up, rubbing his jaw. He motioned too the other two, and they spread out, one on Frost's right side, while the other traveled left, and towards her back.

"Hehe, hey Blaze, little do they know I have them right where I want them! Surrounded from the inside!" She shouted back, not turning away from the earth dragon in front of her.

"Good, that means you can fire in all directions!" Blaze said, grinning even wider. The lead dragon lunged and, Frost spun, her tail blade hitting all three in quick success.

"Rule number two, don't hesitate, keep up the attack and wear down your opponent, focus fire when you can, shoot when you can't, and avoid as many incoming strikes ass possible." The other dragons took her advice, and began attacking in quick succession. Frost dodged the first too, and drove the ball of her wrist into the jaw. She kicked one of the attackers coming in from the rear in the groin, and he keeled over, trying too contain his pain. The last one was taken down by her shoulder spikes, which were driven into the enemies thick chest plating. After a grand total of a minute, she had reduced the trio of them too moaning idiots, lying in the dust. She nudged the earth dragons jaw gently. He looked up, and tried drawing away, but Frost just gently grabbed his wing in her jaws, and pulled him upright. She then proceeded too help the others too their feet.

"Come on." The earth dragon sneered at her, but the other two followed her, and he rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed.

"Your names?"

"Argus." Mumbled the earth dragon.

"Blitz. Where'd you learn those moves? ThosewereAWESOME!" He nearly shouted the last word. Frost only chucked.

"Shut up Blitz. Name is Noble, ma'am." The Ice dragon said in as dignified of a voice he could muster through a broken nose.

"This is my Squadron, Blaze, my mate, Brooklyn, Earth Guardian, Ion, Storm Guardian, and I'm Frost, Ice Guardian. Katana, Time Dragoness and Alpha Squadron leader, Ezio, purple dragon, Kali, a very close friend of mine, and Hestia." Frost replied. Ezio jerked his head down the street, indicating they should keep moving.

"YOU'RE Mad'am hestia?" Blitz asked, his jaw dropping.

"At your service." Hestia said, smiling and nodding, "Frost after your done with them, I'd like too talk too them."

Frost continued too talk too them. None of them had any families, all of them having been killed as part of gang plots. She discovered that all three were part of a local dragon gang known as the Dé léi kè, which meant the drakes in the Chinese language. They were all refugees from Japan, and that this stretch and the surrounding lands and buildings were their territory. They were currently at war with a rival gang too the south. And she discovered Argus was the leader.

"Seriously? Come on now, your the leader, and you fight like that? I guess I can expect no less from a gang. Especially your gang." She said, as they rounded a corner.

"What do you mean?" Argus said, bristling. He was still bleeding from a busted lip, and one of his eyes were swelling fast, "I don't mind you whooping my ass, but don't rag on my gang."

"Yes, it is the number one rule of the arrangement we have with our gangs. Do not insult each other. Or at least not too each others face."

"Ah, but I'm not part of a gang, now am I? So I am immune too the rules. And if you 'Didn't mind' then you wouldn't be talking too me through a busted jaw."

"That still doesn't give you an excuse."

"Yeah, who do you think you are?" Frost grabbed Argus by the throat, stopping his accusation cold. He clutched at her paw helplessly, and whimpered in pain.

"I am Frost, of the Arctic Storm! I have gone up against legions of shadow lieutenants, faced Malefor himself, and killed many males. And loved but one person, with a passion a drakling like you couldn't even begin too comprehend! That's who I think I am." She jerked the dragon around roughly, Shaking him, and he snarled in his misery. The Ice dragoness tilted his head too the side, too get a better look at him.

"Your going too bleed out if we don't patch you up. Come on, you blithering idiot." And she released him, throwing him back too the dirt.

"In here guys. Frost, try not too damage him permanently." Ezio said, jerking his head towards a hovel built into the wall. The hole for the entrance was larger than most.

"Hello? We're home! I got them!"

"Ezio! You took longer than I thought you would, I was worried!" The voice almost slammed into the group, almost everyone knew it.

"Hello?" Katana asked timidly into the next room, "Is that who I think it is?"

There was a crash as the purple-black dragoness pelted around the corner, and slammed into Katana.

"Katana! Guys, it's so good too see you!"

"Cynder! What on earth!" Katana tried too get up, but Cynder had her legs pinned too her side.

"Hehe, you could say we collided halfway here. From what the demon told me, she didn't have any issues, no one too fight. But apparently, there was a different spirit inside the ruins, and it gave Cynder an ultimatum. So she took it. Feeling better now Cynder?"

"Much better, Ez. When can we get moving?"

"We need rest before we continue. I think we all know whats coming." There was a solemn silence throughout the room as their thoughts turned inwards, "We need rest and meditation, so we'll take some personal time for twenty-four hours, and then proceed."

And with that, he launched himself past the door and into the sky.

"Come on gents, lets get you cleaned up. Would you like too stay for dinner?" Argus seemed surprised at the question.

"Uuuum..."

"Don't tell me you've got someplace too be, I know you have no families. Cynder, what do we have for food?"

"I managed too catch a large boar outside the walls while you guys were gone. So unless you hate pork, then were having bacon!" She replied, returning too the kitchen. Frost noticed that her sharp tail spade was covered in blood.

"Cynder, where were you during the fight? We coulda used you." Blaze asked from what must have been the living room.

"Recovering. I only started feeling a bit better about an hour ago. It felt like the largest hangover I've ever had." Frost had her medkit out by now, and was patching up Argus, whom was squirming at the female grabbing his lip, and pressing gauze and clogging agent against it.

"Oh stop squirming you big baby."

"I want too go home now!"

"You can't go home, not in this condition, now hold still!" Cynder chuckled.

"You have the weirdest way of making friends Frost."

"Heh, you should see how I make my enemies."

The rest of the afternoon went quietly. It felt almost too quietly after the rush of that morning, but Frost knew for their lives, that was normal. And so she decided too dedicate herself too setting these young dragons straight. When she had finally finished working on their injuries, she had them gather around her, and listen carefully.

"My grandfather was a guardian like myself. He was arrogant and yet smart, and yet I did not listen. I was once like you three, young naive, full of myself. My life was a wreck. And then one day, I nearly lost my life because of it. Instead, I got lucky, I got a second chance. I was imprisoned and tortured. Do yourselves a favor. Listen too his wisdom. He had a life story he had once told me, a poem of sorts, or a proverb. It goes as such:

Like a tree without its branches, like a fire without a light,  
>You're a battle weary soldier who is running from the fight,<br>Like a ship without an anchor, you're a boat without a crew,  
>You hide the light inside you as you're whoring out the truth,<br>On the outside you're pretty, on the inside you're drenched,  
>In the blood of the anointed in the wound of the oppressed,<br>Fill your cup full of sorrows as you soil the master's clothes,  
>You were faithful at the wedding feast, but now wasted in the road,<br>Like a city on a hill with a blackout in effect  
>You defy your maker, is there one you respect?<br>Like a city on a hill you are tattered and torn,  
>You defy your Maker in your return to the scorn,<br>Put life to your footsteps, put spine to your feet,  
>Will you make your decision are you chaff or are you wheat?<br>Will you rise or will you fall, will you stand or will you crawl?  
>Will you be the ones He's called you to be or turn away and run?"<p>

Argus snickered, "Pretty, what does it mean though?"

"It means you have a choice in your life. Stand with courage, honor, and loyalty, or don't stand at all. Do things for others, help improve your neighbors life. Do right by your mate, and by your creator. Do this, think about others every so often, and you'll do well in life." The trio was quiet for a bit.

"What about the other gangs though? Or what about ours? Most of them would kill us where we stood if we had just said what you just did too them."

"Then kick their ass. But don't kill them. I've given you enough knowledge that if you three follow it, you shouldn't have any issues against much larger groups."

She sent them on their way with a large chunk of cooked pork. They all thanked her for the combat lesson, and the bandages. Noble even thanked her for the severe butt-whooping.

"Oh, and Argus, before you go? Next time a pretty girl walks in front of you, don't ask for sex, ask for friendship. Much better romance will come in time. I know from experience." Blaze gave her an odd look from where he was laying, his eyes halfway shut.

"Whats his issue Frost?" Cynder asked, motioning towards Blaze.

"I think it's the conflict. Almost losing me basically gave him a life shock. He still likes too joke, but anymore, he gives thought too every situation, instead of opening his mouth and blustering out anything." She replied, glancing at the fire guardian, "He's changed a lot."

"Are you complaining?" The purple dragoness shot a sly look at her.

"NOT a complaint, just an observation."

"So what now?"

"We don't have enough firepower?"

"We have the lance! How much more firepower do you need?"

"Enough!" Ezio said quietly. They all fell silent and turned too him. He hates that kind of crap, "It needs too be a strike team kind of plan, not an army. And there's one other thing. Malefor, up until this point, has been able too determine our every move. But he's just one person. We need too act unpredictable. And we need too kill him. This will be our final fight. We need too give everything we've got. Any ideas? Kali?"

"If I were Malefor, and I'm not, but if I were, I'd know my capital has weaknesses, you can't have an area that large and not have any. And IF I were Malefor, I wouldn't plug up those weaknesses, it takes too much resources. I'd rather watch them, lure my enemies into a false sense of security, and then kill them."

"God, that sounds like something Malefor would do. You know him well."

"I should, he trained me."

"So what would you suggest? I'd say, avoid the weaknesses, and try too find one of our own. The only thing is, Malefor might have thought of that weakness as well. How are they supplied? How do they communicate?" Ezio asked carefully, looking at the plans Kali and him were able too draw up from memory.

"Communication and supply is carried out via redundant encampments all over the surface, and then transported via portal. You could try taking out the portals, but that'd take a large toll on your strength, and I doubt we could keep it up for long enough. We don't have the numbers or strength for a siege."

"So we go in without disturbing anything. Can we sneak over the walls?" Ezio asked carefully.

"Me and Kali could, but the rest of you guys would glow like a setting sun, especially Blaze and Ion." Cynder said, looking the map over.

"Perhaps there is an easier way." Brooklyn said, tracing his claw along a border, "I could easily dig under a wall, perhaps even through the city.

"How long would that take?"

"A week perhaps?"

"That's too long. We need to be at the throne room in a couple hours." Ezio said, pouring over the curtain they had doodled on, "perhaps with a distraction. Blaze, Brooklyn, Ion, how much chaos could you create?"

"A lot, Ion could use his EMP too disrupt as much electronics as possible, Me and Brooklyn together could hit very hard with flaming melting balls of falling rock. How much is flammable?" Blaze asked, peering at the entrance.

"Alot. The entire city is made of wood and clay. If it's not flammable, just blow it up." Kali said, shrugging.

"I dunno, seems risky, and we could only launch one fire ball at a time into the city. They could probably snipe them out of the air."

"Whats the planet like?" Ezio asked, looking at the very edges, with the terrain all around the area.

"It was once a moon, covered with methane gases, which were frozen, a thick atmosphere, and made half of rock, half of water, with a frozen core. Now that it's terraformed, it's a bit like earth. 60% nitrogen, 40% oxygen and other gases. Smaller atmosphere, but thicker too make up for it. Lens flare of the atmosphere too counter for the distance of the sun. Normal weather, that was there before, even seasons. The core is different from earths, it had too be. Couldn't haul in a planets worth of iron and nickel for a core." Kali said, looking at the ceiling and thinking.

"You said there was a core of ice at one time?" Frost said passively from the corner.

"Yeah, it's how the whole thing works. There's a lot of pressure and heat at the center, but so much so that it's made simply of steam, and continuously circulates." Kali said, "Why?"

"I could freeze it."

There was a silence through the room.

"Do you think you could actually do the entire thing?"

"If I sat there long enough, easily, specially how thermo-dynamics works. Just freeze part of it, and keep it frozen, let it cool down the rest of it. Do you think the pressure at the core would fight me?" She asked, looking at Brooklyn.

"Probably, but it's far enough out from the sun that it wouldn't fight you nearly as hard as anything closer. The water WAS once frozen methane before terra-forming. It might work, but to what purpose?" Brooklyn asked.

"Easy. Ever seen what happens when a rotating object is unbalanced? It goes all over the place. Have a frozen core on a single side of the planet and it would probably rip the planet out of it's orbit, although it could rip the planet apart."

"Your nuts." Ezio said, smiling, "That's probably a good thing though. I think I see where your going. Malefor isn't going too let his army be ripped to shreds in one go, he's going to evac the place, himself first. If we can get him to leave his army behind, and meet us on even ground, we might have a chance."

"There are some issues with that, whats to stop him coming back?"

"I'll collapse the wormhole, like I did the last one. It's run by gravity you know, shouldn't be tough." Ezio replied too Ion's question.

"Do you know where he'll go?"

"I think he'll travel too a spot he can command from a safe distance. I know just the place he might even run too." Ezio countered Blazes argument.

"So after we freeze the core, we wait till he's gone, than melt the core, which I could do in about five minutes, follow him too his 'Happy Place' kill him, and then live happily ever after? Somehow I don't think it's going to work like that." Blaze growled.

"Says who? Malefor has created a monster of an army. But if there's one thing I learned about fighting larger opponents, it's that a tap in the right spot will send them toppling and crumbling too nothing." Frost said, smiling wider now.

"Can you do it Frost?" she gave the question pause, while she thought about it, but then just turned back too Hestia and nodded.

"Then I have nothing further to add." She said, turning too Ezio.

"Then get some rest guys. Tomorrow is homecoming, and we're going to throw the biggest party of them all."


	7. Chapter 7

As the portal closed, Malefor growled to himself, aggravated. These young dragons were proving to be more of a handful than he had thought. He returned to his throne inside the crystal tower on top of the hill, overlooking his grand city, wondering how they had been able to escape the massive amount of search teams he had sent, looking for them. One had been turned up dead, fire and ice wounds apparent. Then they had stolen the one piece of the lance they had found in time, just for it to be stolen out from under his nose.

He called up another portal and shouted through it for the Marshall and his two best men. They came swiftly, not wanting to keep him waiting, and for good reason.

"You two. Your names?" He said to the two dragons flanking the Marshall.

"Erebus, my liege."

"Melanthios, lord Malefor."

"Good. Turn and face your opponent. This fight shall be to the death, to succeed your superior." He said, leering at the Marshall. The two generals immediately turned and had at it.

"What will you do with me my liege?"

"You have done well up to the current point. What happened? It could only have been that runt Ezio. But how did you not kill him? You had two hundred of my finest officers at your disposal. I gave the order to have him brought to me, but upon apparent failure of that, you were to kill him. So what happened?"

"My lord, he had completed the lance. Our piece was the final piece. I tried to sto – HRK!" Malefor roared in frustration, as he sent a lance of ice through the shadow dragon, completely severing him in half. Despite this, he was still alive.

"Why my lord?" Malefor did not answer, he simply blew a torrent of flame and shadow over the poor guy, burning him to a crisp both inside and out. The other two had completely ceased their fight.

"Because you failed me at a most critical moment. You two! Your fight must wait for another time! You will return and recall all forces from earth, except for skeleton crews. And then you will report to me, and we shall fortify this city until none but myself could breach it." The saluted simultaneously, and then both ran through the portal, more out of fear than of haste to finish their masters orders.

"Your move, Ezio." Malefor mumbled to himself, returning to his throne.

"That's about as deep as I can make it, Frost. You'll have to do the rest from here." Brooklyn said, ceasing his drilling efforts. They had found a large cavern from which they could mount their planetary unbalancing.

"Why can't you just scourge the planet again?" Kali was talking to Ezio, whom had remained quiet and calm.

"Because I'm not Malefor. And I know my limits. And I know I can't control that." Ezio said, looking at the entrance, into the daylight, "And I'm not going to sacrifice an entire planet just to destroy one enemy. I'd be no better than Malefor then."

"But they're all enemies!"

"Since when? You used to be an enemy. So did I." He said, smiling at the way she clamped her mouth shut, "There are no enemies, just those under the tyranny and enslavement of Malefor."

"Drill me two holes Brooklyn, right here, so I can stick my arms in them. It'll get me closer, and keep me from moving." Frost said, marking two spots on the ground. Brooklyn used a quick double blast, and two rough holes formed, and Frost sunk her forelegs into them. There was a cry of alarm, and a bark of laughter from behind as she did this.

"What?"

Blaze chuckled, "Tail down, dear, your a little, uh, exposed." She grinned slightly, but the blush was more apparent, and she lowered her tail to cover her nether regions.

"Get a good look, Brooklyn?" Frost asked teasingly.

"A bit to good." Ion said, chuckling as well. Unfortunately he was within' reach of Frost's tail spade.

"I'm a mated dragon, I'm a mated dragon, I'm a mated dragon." Brooklyn chimed to himself quietly, squeezing his temples.

"Well since your all tied up..." Blaze murmured. He hoped onto the females back, lounging against her raised rump, and letting his legs rest against the back of her head. His tail hung down in front of her face. Ion rolled onto his back holding his stomach, laughing.

"Blaze you idiot! Get off me!"

"No I think I'm good for a bit. You keep doing what your doing, don't mind me."

"Blaze, I'm serious, your freakin' heavy!" Blaze laughed, and then put on an indignant face.

"Are you calling me fat, dear?" She looked back at him, and he almost fell over laughing, as she was attempting to pout and give him baby eyes.

"Seriously Frost? Your not good at that." He said, still chuckling. She shrugged then, and lanced her tail spade over her back, slamming it into the males stomach, whom rolled off to the side, groaning from the impact.

"Ugh, remind me never to get on your bad side again." He said, holding his gut.

"You cry baby." She said, smiling to herself, "Anyone else want to make a smooth remark or bad decision? Or can I get started?"

"Please, by all means Frost. Blaze, stay with her, me and the others will be outside, we'll give you some privacy Frost, so you can work." Ezio said, retreating to the cave entrance, "Blaze come get us when you think something is happening. We'll be at Katana's old island."

Frost huffed to herself as Blaze settled down in front of her, his signature cocky grin on his face.

"Can't believe they left me with you."

"Well we are mates. It's more appropriate for me to be here than anyone else." He whispered, "And might I mention how sexy you look like this? I could have a lot of fun with this."

"Don't even think of it. That is in no way romantic or private."

"Oh come on Frost, it was a joke, learn to have a little fun!" Frost huffed at him, and he smiled.

"Whats happened to you Blaze?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You're acting like an idiot again. Always cocky, never taking anything serious." Blazes smile dropped, as he realized what she was saying.

"Frost, before my grandfather died, I was much like thunder, if you want me to be honest. I never laughed, never chuckled, never thought of romance, always focusing on training. Afterwords though, my world was rocked before me. My father had left my mother, and my mother had died giving birth to me. All I had left after my grandfather was my older brother."

"I didn't know you had a brother." Frost said, perking up. Blaze could clearly see the ice blue glow of her power through the pair of holes in the ground as she cooled the core slowly.

"I had just one older brother, unlike you."

"Sorry?"

"I looked up your file in new Warfang. The youngest of seven? That's a large family." Blaze said.

"A family that disowned me as soon as I ran off with Dante. I never heard from any of them again, even my grandfather, although I suspect that he still tried to contact me. I miss that arrogant bastard." She mumbled.

"Frost, you've had a hard life, so if you have issues with laughter, I'll forgive you. But my brother taught me that laughter is probably one of the best remedies for any illness, even depression. I'll admit, I may take it a bit far sometimes, but even still, would you love me just as much if I wasn't who I am?"

Frost thought about that, "I guess not. You're stubborn ridiculous fool, and I suppose that's why I love you. Although you know I like to see you be a gentleman occasionally."

"Who said I was a gentleman?" He growled at her, tracing his claw up the inside of her thigh...

"You know something is likely to happen between those two down there, right?" Hestia said, her face red as they beat a hasty retreat from the cavern.

"Oh I saw the look on Blaze's face. He nearly took her right in front of us." Ezio said, his face also slightly flushed, but he was controlling it very well.

"I hope my girl is alright." Brooklyn said for maybe the millionth time. Ion rolled his eyes.

"She's a tough one Brooklyn, don't dwell on it, they'll be fine." Kali said, gently rubbing the large males shoulder.

"How long do you think until we see a result in the planets core?" Katana asked, the vibrant red on her white scales standing out exceedingly well.

"Depends on how long they take." Ion mumbled. Brooklyn snorted at the comment.

"It more depends on how much Frost looses control. I'm kind of counting on something to happen down there." Ezio said softly, "I remember my first time. I kind of regret it now, but the next day I had marks all down my back from the females fingernails. Course she had them on other areas that she couldn't show off to her friends. What about you Hestia? Ever have anyone?"

"Never. My people I care about the most. My brother takes a few more liberties with women, but normally when I don't have a chance to reprimand him. He's probably taking some liberties right now, though he still cares about our kind deep down, and will always do the best for them." She said, looking off into the distance. They weren't very far from a metal mine, where dragons of all shapes sizes and colors were slaving away just to keep their homes over their heads, their food on their tables, and their lives in their hands.

"Even if it's not the right thing."

"Yes. He's an idiot, but I love him."

"Katana?"

"I've never spent any amount of time with a male before now, so I wouldn't know what mating is like. And I've never had the urge to mate with a male before. What about you Ion?"

"Me? I can never hold a conversation long enough to seduce a chick." Ezio face-palmed.

"Who was the female Ezio?" Kali asked, smiling.

"A one night stand. Nothing more." Ezio said, shrugging. Kali giggled, "What?"

"You liked her a lot didn't you?" the shadow dragoness replied.

"Oh, give me a break, she was a friend from high school, by the time I had met alpha squadron, she was long go - " There was a rustling in the bushes close by. Ezio and Brooklyn both raised their open palms, ready to cast powers should an enemy rush towards them, but before either of them could charge their magic, an air dragon fell out of the bushes, covered in scrapes and bruises. Hestia let out a cry of alarm.

"Zephyr!" She said, rushing forward to help the dragon to his feet. The dragon looked as if he were confused. And then he saw Ezio, and he began shouting incoherently. All Ezio heard was shadow dragon, and the purple dragon rushed off through the trees, already low to the ground, hunting the pursuer.

"Zephyr?" Kali said, still looking around, just in case this shadow dragon had backup. When she had searched with her element, and made sure no one was lurking behind a nearby tree, she grew close to the dragon.

He was young, maybe in his twenty something's, his coloring was gray and gold, and the amount of bruises he had, most of them fresh told her that he was up against a large number of enemies, and to have survived the encounter, he must be very good at combat.

There was another rustling sound among the bushes, and Kali turned, her palm towards the noise.

"Ezio?" The was a moment silence, and the a trio of shadow bolts flew out of the trees, Kali dodging two, and redirecting the third, by influencing it with her own control of the power. She was about to lead on the first shadow dragon that had come charging out after his attack, when the air dragon lept forwards, and glanced back over his shoulder at the female, motioning for her to stand back.

His first attack was against the lead dragon. His air attack so powerful it took on color and form, impacting against the enemies chest, it caved in in a dish like form. There was a solid whunk as the solid air impacted, telling Kali that for a non solid object to make that kind of sound, it was powerful indeed.

The second dragon went to punch straight forward with all his might. Zephyr deflected the incoming punch with his foreleg, and then bashed the flat of his palm against the shadow dragons chin, driving his head upwards, and exposing his throat. The air dragon was already spinning his tail around when his palm made contact with the chin, and it sliced a clean slit through the dragons esophagus.

The third one was already dead, when he had turned to it, having been killed by Ezio, whom had dived out of the sky on top of him.

"Zeph! Ease up, it's over, they're gone!" Hestia said, rushing to him.

"You know him Hestia?" Ezio asked, raising an eyebrow as he wiped his tail spade and claws on the grass.

"He's my brothers best friend! Zeph! Ease up, it's me, Hestia!" Zephyr was still struggling until he saw Hestia's eyes, and then he stopped.

"Hes? Is that you? By the ancient, it's good to see you." He said gently, "Please tell me you've seen something of my mate."

"Your mate?"

"An air dragoness, at the second battle of New Warfang. We got separated in the fighting, and I haven't seen her since." He replied, hope shining in his eyes.

"Last we knew, New Warfang was under our possession. She should be fine." He looked almost amazed at this news.

"We were told in the labor camps that it had been destroyed, wiped off the map. I hadn't given up hope, because Aella was always a hunter, and liked to spend time in the woods around the city."

"She might still be there." Ezio said. Kali shrugged.

"Who knows? With how detached we've been lately, New Warfang could have been destroyed." Kali said. Ezio shot her a dirty look, as Zephyr's shoulders slumped.

"Stay with us Zephyr, your good in a fight, and you might find her along the way. Now how long is it going to take those tw - " Just as he finished his statement, the ground had an almost unfeasible vibration to it, very rapid. You could see tiny waves flowing across the ground. The vibrations soon grew in intensity.

The group stayed rooted to the spot waiting for Blaze and Frost to get back. By the time they saw two small specks rocketing towards them in the sky, the ground was waving and vibrating as if it were the speaker in a big concert.

"We've got to go now guys! Leave it to the ancient to interrupt us just as I was getting close! You couldn't have held yourself back Frost?" Ezio face-palmed, but jumped into the sky, where the extent of damage already done to the planet was evident. Large crevices were already forming where the bending of the crust was to extreme. The group as one bolted towards Malefor's capital city, racing the tidal waves that were traveling through the land. Alarm klaxons were already going off in the nearby labor camp.

Ezio felt a buffer of air fill his wings and drive him forwards, and had a sneaking suspicion that Zephyr was using his wind powers to move them forwards. It's what he would do.

"The planet IS ripping itself apart. These massive earthquakes are going to hit the city in a few hours."

"Then we gotta move! Lets go guys! Give it all you've got!" Ezio drove his wings back and down, and he lunged forwards, gathering more and more speed, and behind him his friends kept pace, roaring towards the massive city, racing the shock-waves below...

Malefor was relaxing at this point in time. The shockwave had yet to hit the city, and so he had ordered a young female to come and give him a message, something that was a favorite past time of his. During these times, his underlings knew not to disturb him. So when Smaug ran in shouting incoherently and out of breath, he knew instantly that something was very, very wrong.

"What is it Smaug, spit it out!"

"We've lost contact with all of the camps south-east of here! Last contact was that of vibrations in the ground!" Malefor got up with a groan, and the female slid back behind his massive throne, hiding from his wrath.

"So why are you coming to tell me, and not figuring it out for yourself?" Malefor said, growing closer.

"Sir, we cannot raise them on any band. We think it may be an earthquake."

"Titan doesn't get earthquakes..." Malefor growled at his third, "So how do you think it started?"

"Ugh..."

"USE YOUR HEAD SMAUG!"

"Perhaps the young Ezio?"

"Then why are you not out hunting him?"

"The earthquake is projected to reach here soon, sir, should you evacuate?" Smaug said, stepping backwards.

"I'll worry about that, if it gets bad. Now FIND THEM!" Malefor roared, "And let me worry about my own safety!"

Smaug tripped over his own feet as he ran from the glass chamber, attempting to extricate himself from his masters glare as quickly as possible. The Dark Master returned to his throne, and nodded at the female.

"Away." She looked as if she wanted to run, but she held her head high and trotted slowly out, only breaking into a run after she was out of the pavilion. Malefor pressed a small silver button on the arm of his throne, and spoke into a thin strip, where a speaker was concealed.

"Jeeves, prepare for evac, get your men of my personal guard together, and meet me in my pavilion in five minutes." The purple dragon knew that Jeeves his true right hand man, would be on Titan in seconds, getting his personal entourage ready.

The dragon lept to his feet when he felt the vibrations in the ground. Malefor was about to form a portal to his personal command post, so that he was safe, when a crash was heard, and a rupture formed in the glass wall, and in jumped Ezio, followed by his friends, frost carrying a black bundle, and covered in blood.

"Welcome back, Ezio, Kali, it's good to see my loyal servants returning to me. Ah, and Cynder! It's excellent to see you as well!" Cynder roared long and loud, challenging the dragon to his claim.

"Never again Malefor, your snakes tongue cannot sway us!" Ezio said, pulling out the lance.

"Ah the lance, give it here, young one, you wouldn't want to put someones eyes out, you don't even know how it works!" There was a low hum, and Ezio thrust the lance out long ways, so that the point was facing to the side, and a visible shockwave traveled through the air, forcing Malefor back by several feet.

"I'm a fast learner Malefor, as you well know. Now feel the raw power of The Ancient One."

"Fool! I am the Ancient One! It was our role as purple dragons to be feared worshiped and respected! Why else would we have so much power!" Malefor said, approaching carefully. Hairline cracks were forming in the floor now, showing that the earthquake was growing in intensity.

"To protect and serve! Now face your failure of such!" And with that, Ezio lunged forwards, the lance held high, in both forepaws, lunging at Malefor's chest. The blade glanced off of a convexity shield thrown up in the nick of time, and Ezio spun the shaft, driving the blade towards Malefor's exposed throat. The dark purple enemy dragon drove his fore leg upwards, deflecting the shaft, and then retaliated himself.

Meanwhile, while the other dragons watched, several shadow generals dropped through the hole in the wall. Frost dropped her bundle, and it made a solid thump, rolling across the floor, and then smiled at the now familiar shadow dragon, whose name was still unknown to them, "Say hello to your old leader."

Several dragons cried out as they realized the black bundle was actually Smaug's head, arteries and esophagus hanging out the gaping hole at it's base.

"Well, that's a bit dark and violent for a guardian." The unknown dragon said, scratching his head.

"It was merciful, compared what he did to me." Frost said, and then lept forwards, lunging at the shadow dragons throat.

Ezio continued to thrust and parry with Malefor, holding his own much better this time. The dark master was very careful not to come into contact with the glowing tip. He would occasionally make a grab for the lance. Ezio jabbed for the Dark Masters leg when the dragon lunged back, and grabbed the haft, instantly resulting in a power struggle. Whoever had better control of the staff would win.

At last, after a quarter of a minute of struggling, a force field blasted Ezio straight off his feet, flinging him backwards, and slamming into Malefor's throne. The dark master lept up, and brought his full weight of his considerable bulk down, the tip of the spear shining gleefully, and it lodged in Ezio's chest, where it remained, as Malefor turned from his dying body. Kali screamed something inaudible, and he could have sworn there were more concerned voices.

There was a bright flash, and then he knew no more...


End file.
